LAX98LA014 · Stinson AT-19
Stinson AT-19 and Cessna R172E · Accident: collision between aircraft (not in flight) while taxiing
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX98LA014
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Aircraft 1 · Stinson AT-19
- Aircraft type
- Stinson AT-19
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N88793
- Operator
- Garry C. Waite · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Perkins Field (U08), OVERTON, NVTo North Las Vegas Airport (VGT)
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Taxi · to runway
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Collision between aircraft (not in flight)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Aircraft 2 · Cessna R172E
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N96218
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From North Las Vegas Airport (VGT)To Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO), Santa Monica, CA
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Taxi · to runway
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Collision between aircraft (not in flight)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Procedures/directives, not followed
- Pilot in command › Visual lookout, inadequate
- Pilot of other aircraft › Procedures/directives, not followed
- Pilot of other aircraft › Visual lookout, inadequate
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The Stinson AT-19, N88793, had just landed and had been cleared to taxi to the hangar complex. The Cessna R172E, N96218, was cleared to taxi from another hangar complex to the active runway for an IFR departure. The pilot of the Cessna reported that he had started his taxi from the hangar and was approaching the taxiway. He saw another aircraft moving in his direction in an apparent straight line. The Cessna pilot did not hear or receive any transmissions regarding other aircraft on the taxiway since he had been cleared to taxi. He flashed his lights at the oncoming aircraft to gain the other pilot's attention. The pilot of the Stinson stated that he saw the Cessna 1-2 seconds before impact. The Stinson pilot reported that he did hear the ground controller in contact with another aircraft, but that there were three different ways to get to the active runway from those hangars. Both aircraft were operating on clearances from the North Las Vegas Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) ground controller. The FAA reported that the location where the accident occurred is considered a non-movement area and is not under the responsibility or supervision of the ATCT.
Probable cause
The pilot of the Stinson AT-19, N88793, inadequate visual lookout and his failure to perform clearing S-turns while taxiing. A related factor was the inherent forward visual restriction of the aircraft's conventional landing gear design.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX98LA014
- Event ID
- 20001208X09058
- Case number
- LAX98LA014
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1997-10-19.
- API snapshot SHA-256: f2ba2f0c8f4b5e154df3000281b01805f0e415b29e886345863ab1f9509e49f1; retrieved 2026-09-22T18:18:21.972Z.