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LAX91FA098

1991-02-13 · SANTA PAULA, California, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SZP

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

INADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT BY THE BELL 206B PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN HIS FAILURE TO SEE-AND-AVOID THE PITTS S-2A. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: THE S-2A PILOT'S RESTRICTED VISIBILITY RROM THE TAILWHEEL EQUIPPED AIRPLANE, ONCE IT WAS IN POSITION ON THE RUNWAY FOR TAKEOFF.

Factual narrative

A HELICOPTER (BELL 206B, N2282T) & AN AIRPLANE (PITTS S-2A, N31512) COLLIDED IN MID-AIR DURING THEIR INITIAL TAKEOFF CLIMB FROM AN UNCONTROLLED AIRPORT. THE COLLISION OCCURRED AS THE AIRPLANE WAS TAKING OFF FROM RUNWAY 22 & THE HELICOPTER WAS DEPARTING FROM AN ADJACENT HELIPAD NEAR THE MIDPOINT OF THE 2650' RUNWAY. THE HELICOPTER PILOT SAID THAT AFTER LIFT-OFF FROM THE HELIPAD, HE BROUGHT THE HELICOPTER TO A HOVER & HOVER TAXIED IT TO THE RUNWAY. HE SAID HE VISUALLY CLEARED THE RUNWAY, & AFTER ABOUT 10 SEC, HE BEGAN HIS DEPARTURE. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE HELICOPTER'S FLIGHT PATH MERGED WITH THE FLIGHT PATH OF THE AIRPLANE OVER THE RUNWAY. FORWARD VISIBILITY FROM THE TAILWHEEL EQUIPPED AIRPLANE WOULD HAVE BEEN RESTRICTED WHILE ITS TAILWHEEL WAS ON THE RUNWAY SURFACE. AIRCRAFT TIEDOWNS WERE LOCATED BETWEEN THE APPROACH END OF RUNWAY 22 & THE HELIPAD; AIRCRAFT PARKED IN THIS TIE-DOWN AREA WOULD HAVE RESTRICTED THE VIEW BETWEEN THE APPROACH END OF THE RUNWAY & THE HELIPAD. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_LAX91FA098.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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