Cessna 172 N397ES accident near Arlington, Texas, October 2, 2023
Cessna 172, registration N397ES, operated by AVIATOR AIR OPERATIONS LLC, was involved in an accident near Arlington, Texas on October 2, 2023. The NTSB lists the highest injury level as minor, with 2 people on board. Case CEN24LA003 is completed.
ADS-B receivers recorded 19 minutes of the flight after departing the Grand Prairie Muni area (KGPM), reaching a maximum of 2,500 ft. The last recorded position was at 18:58 UTC, at 725 ft and 54 knots, descending at 512 feet per minute, about 3 km from Grand Prairie Muni (KGPM).
The nearest weather report, from KGPM (3 km away), showed wind 170° at 3 knots, visibility 6 miles or more, no ceiling reported (VFR conditions).
The aircraft is a Cessna 172R registered in United States (Mode S A49D3F).
This page reconstructs the flight from public ADS-B data for information only. The NTSB report is the authority on what happened and why.
Key facts
- Date
- October 2, 2023
- Location
- Arlington, Texas
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172
- Registration
- N397ES
- Operator
- AVIATOR AIR OPERATIONS LLC
- Injuries
- Minor (2 on board)
- NTSB case
- CEN24LA003 (Completed)
- Departure area
- Grand Prairie Muni (KGPM)
- Nearest airport
- Grand Prairie Muni (KGPM)
- Recorded flight
- 19 min, max 2,500 ft
- Last recorded position
- 18:58 UTC, 725 ft, 54 kt
3D flight replay
Replay the recorded flight in 3D with the weather, light and terrain at the time, flight instruments reconstructed from the aircraft's ADS-B transmissions, and automatically detected events.
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- Beech A35 N577B, Skidmore, Texas, October 7, 2025
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Sources: NTSB case CEN24LA003; ADS-B flight data from adsb.lol (ODbL); weather from NOAA / Iowa Environmental Mesonet and Open-Meteo.