Skip to content

LAX89FA241

1989-07-20 · HESPERIA, California, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport L26

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

AN INFLIGHT COLLISION WITH A POWER LINE WHILE MANEUVERING AT LOW ALTITUDE SHORTLY AFTER DEPARTURE ON A DARK NIGHT OVER AN AREA WITH FEW GROUND REFERENCE LIGHTS. THE REASONS FOR THE AIRCRAFT'S FLIGHT PATH AND ALTITUDE PROFILE ARE UNDETERMINED. A FACTOR IN THE ACCIDENT WAS THE APPARENT DISAGREEMENT WHICH OCCURRED BETWEEN THE TWO PILOTS DURING THE ACCIDENT FLIGHT SEQUENCE.

Factual narrative

WITNESSES SAID THAT AFTER TAKEOFF THE AIRCRAFT FLEW A CURVING RIGHT HAND FLIGHT PATH AT LOW ALTITUDE BACK TOWARD THE APPROACH END OF THE RUNWAY USED FOR DEPARTURE. AT A POINT CORRESPONDING TO A MODIFIED AND EXTENDED RIGHT BASE LEG FOR THE RUNWAY, THE AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH A HIGH TENSION POWER LINE AT AN ALTITUDE OF 32 FT AGL. AT THE TIME OF WIRE CONTACT, THE AIRCRAFT WAS FLYING PARALLEL WITH THE POWER LINE. A POST CRASH FIRE CONSUMED THE AIRCRAFT. EXTENSIVE EXAMINATION OF THE SURVIVING WRECKAGE COMPONENTS REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF A PRE-IMPACT MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE. AUTOMOTIVE FUEL OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN OR QUALITY WAS PROBABLY BEING USED IN THE AIRCRAFT WITHOUT AN APPROVED STC. ACCORDING TO A SECOND HAND ACCOUNT FROM THE SURVIVING CHILD PASSENGER, THE TWO PILOTS BEGAN 'FIGHTING OVER THE CONTROLS' AFTER TAKEOFF, WITH ONE PILOT REPORTEDLY TELLING THE OTHER THAT 'HE TURNED THE WRONG WAY.' THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED ON A DARK NIGHT OVER AN AREA WITH NO GROUND REFERENCE LIGHTS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_LAX89FA241.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

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

Related research

Matched on aircraft type. All research papers