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LAX88LA222

1988-06-12 · PALM SPRINGS, California, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PSP

N43310 has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (KEUTHAN AIRCRAFT CORP BUCCANEER II, built 1994), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

PILOT MISJUDGED THE ALTITUDE OF THE MOUNTAIN PEAK.

Factual narrative

THE FLIGHT DEPT ON A DARK NIGHT, BUT THE PILOT REPORTED THE PREVAILING VISIBILITY WAS GREATER THAN 25 MILES. AFTER DEPARTING THE PILOT TURNED LEFT AND BEGAN AN ON-COURSE CLIMB TOWARD A MOUNTAINOUS AREA. WHEN THE AIRPLANE NEARED THE MOUNTAIN PEAK THE PILOT IMMEDIATELY PULLED UP, BUT THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH THE MOUNTAIN PEAK. THE PILOT AND PAX REPORTED THAT THE AIRPLANE DID NOT EXPERIENCE ANY PREIMPACT MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_LAX88LA222.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.