The remains of a single-engine plane that wrecked in Johnson County last month, killing the student pilot, had no evidence of a pre-impact malfunction or a mechanical failure, a federal investigator wrote in a preliminary report examining the crash.
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. May 15, authorities responded to a fiery plane crash near the 8600 block of West FM 4, a farm road south of Godley. The pilot was identified as Jon Diego Monreal, a 19-year-old Crowley resident. Godley is about 60 miles southwest of downtown Dallas.
The crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. The board’s preliminary report, published May 31, states Monreal’s Cessna 150L departed from Cleburne Regional Airport at 7:48 p.m.
In less than an hour, the plane left the airport and flew over Lake Pat Cleburne, going south before traveling northwest and passing by Pecan Plantation in Hood County. The plane then began heading back toward the Cleburne airport. At one point, flight data shows the plane slowing down to 13 knots, or about 14 mph, before entering a “rapid descent,” according to the 8-page report.
A motorist driving with his daughter near where the aircraft crashed witnessed the plane flying slowly and “almost hovering” before entering a spiraling nosedive. The motorist called 911 after seeing smoke and fire at the crash site, according to the report.
An on-site investigator with the Federal Aviation Administration suggested the plane possibly ran out of fuel, according to a Department of Public Safety news release May 16 and Sgt. William Lockridge, a DPS spokesperson.
The preliminary NTSB report, the findings of which are subject to change as the investigation continues, does not state whether the plane ran out of fuel. A typical NTSB investigation can take 12 to 24 months, a spokesperson for the safety board said.
An obituary for Monreal states the recent Crowley High School graduate began studying to become a pilot last fall and made his first solo flight in December.
“Diego had a deep love for the sky and its beauty. He often took pictures of the sky to capture the moment, sometimes asking his mom to pull the car over so he could snap the perfect shot,” his obituary reads. “He always spoke about how beautiful it was to fly and see the world from a different perspective.”
In 2023, the National Transportation Safety Board investigated 103 reported cases of aviation accidents in Texas, primarily involving general aviation. Texas typically ranks within the top three states — alongside California and Florida — for accidents, a former director of the safety board’s investigations division told The Dallas Morning News earlier this year.
