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LAX87LA080

1987-01-10 · PALO ALTO, California, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PAO

N46354 has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (AMERICAN AUTOGYRO INC SPARROWHAWK), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE STUDENT PILOT STATED THAT HE HAD JUST FINISHED PRACTICING 4 TOUCH-AND-GO WITH HIS FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR. THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR THEN EXITED THE AIRCRAFT AND INSTRUCTED THE STUDENT TO PRACTICE 5 SOLO TOUCH-AND-GO. ON THE TAKE-OFF RUN JUST PRIOR TO ROTATION, THE PASSENGER DOOR OPENED. THE STUDENT ATTEMPTED TO CLOSE THE DOOR WHEN HE LOST CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT AND RAN OFF THE RUNWAY COLLIDING WITH THE TERRAIN AND NOSED OVER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_LAX87LA080.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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