Event LAX03LA088

Factual narrative

On February 16, 2003, at 0152 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 421C, N321FL, and a ground service truck, collided while the Cessna was taxiing to parking following its landing at the San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California. The airplane was substantially damaged during the on-demand air taxi flight that was performed under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 135. None of the five occupants in the airplane nor the single occupant in the truck was injured. On board the airplane was an airline transport pilot, three medical-related personnel, and a patient. The airplane was operated by Mediplane, Inc., dba REACH, which is based in Santa Rosa, California. Visual meteorological dark nighttime conditions prevailed. The air ambulance flight originated from Bakersfield, California, about 1255. The pilot landed on runway 28R. Thereafter, he received a clearance to taxi to the ramp via taxiway Kilo. The pilot indicated that he followed the air traffic clearance and turned northbound off the runway at Kilo. Then the pilot taxied westbound on taxiway Charlie. Approaching the designated parking area, the pilot negotiated a right 90-degree turn and proceeded in a northerly direction toward a fixed base operator's parking area. While he was taxiing across a ground service vehicle road, a truck that was moving in a westerly direction (perpendicular to the airplane's direction of travel) came in contact with the leading edge of the airplane's right wing. The pilot reported that, at the time, the airplane's navigation and taxi lights were illuminated. The pilot reported that he was positioned in the airplane's left seat. He stated that prior to the collision he had not observed the approaching truck. The truck driver reported that he had stopped at the intersection's vehicle stop sign and had not observed the approaching airplane. The driver then continued on the service road, the truck entered the intersection, and the collision occurred. Airport operations personnel estimated that when the impact occurred, the airplane was heading about 010 degrees. The truck was heading about 280 degrees. The truck driver held a Federal Aviation Administration airframe and powerplant mechanic certificate. At the time of the collision, he was driving his employer's maintenance van. Employment and training records from the driver's San Francisco International Airport-based employer, Swissport Corporation, indicated that the driver had passed the authorized examinations to operate the van on the airport service road in the vicinity of the accident site. He had been granted airfield access. The San Francisco International Airport, Operations Division, publishes vehicle operating safety information and air operations area (AOA) driving procedures. In pertinent part, appendix 3 to part II of the "Operations Manual" states: "Ground vehicles shall yield the right-of-way at all times to moving aircraft...." Airport operations personnel responded to the accident site. The personnel investigated the facts and circumstances of the collision. Thereafter, they issued the vehicle driver an airfield citation that bore the following comment: Maintenance van hit moving aircraft. (See the operations personnel report including photographs and diagrams for additional details.) A maintenance truck driver failed to observe an airplane that had just landed and was taxing to the ramp on a course perpendicular to the driver's direction of travel. The westbound truck, that was proceeding on a vehicle access road, collided with the leading edge of the northbound airplane's right wing. During a dark night, the pilot had landed on runway 28R. Thereafter, he received a clearance to taxi to the ramp via a specified route. Approaching the designated parking area, the pilot negotiated a right 90-degree turn and again proceeded in a northerly direction toward a fixed base operator's parking area; the airplane's ground track crossed an airport service road. The truck driver failed to comply with published airport procedures by not yielding to the approaching airplane. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12