LAX87MA125 · Boeing 727-224
Boeing 727-224 and Lompoc Aviation Cessna 310R · Accident: in flight collision with object during initial climb
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX87MA125
- 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
- Airline
- 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 · Boeing 727-224
- Aircraft type
- Boeing 727
- 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
- N88704
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Los Angeles, CATo Houston, TX
- 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 121: Air Carrier
- 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
- Initial climb
- 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
- In flight collision with object
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- None
Aircraft 2 · Cessna 310R
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 310
- 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
- N98834
- Operator
- Lompoc Aviation
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Oxnard, CATo Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Los Angeles, 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 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
- 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
- Initial climb
- 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
- In flight collision with object
- 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
- Atc personnel(lcl/gnd/clnc) › Atc clearance, conflicting
- Atc personnel(lcl/gnd/clnc) › Control tower service, inadequate
- Atc personnel(lcl/gnd/clnc) › Crew/group coordination, inadequate
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
AFTER A NGT LNDG ON NORTH SIDE OF LOS ANGELES INTL ARPT, CESSNA 310, N98834, WAS TAXIED SOUTH (S) TO DELTA CARGO AREA. BFR RCHG S RWYS (25L & 25R), THE PLT STOPPED SHORT OF KILO RAMP BHND ANOTHER ACFT (N61C) & CONTACTED S GND CTLR (GC-1). HE WAS TOLD TO HOLD SHORT. CONT FLT 866 (BOEING 727, N88704) ADZD S LCL CTLR (LC-1) HE WAS READY FOR TKOF (ON RWY 25R). LC-1 WAS AWARE N98823 & N61C WERE WAITING TO CROSS S RWYS & GRANTED APPROVAL FOR GC-1 TO CLR THEM ACROSS 25R. GC-1 CLRD THEM ACROSS 25R & TOLD THEM TO HOLD SHORT OF RWY 25L. APRX 32 SEC LATER, LC-1 CLRD FLT 866 FOR TKOF. LATER HE SAID HE HAD SCANNED THE RWY & SAW WHAT HE PERCEIVED AS 2 ACFT BTN THE PARALLEL RWYS. HOWEVER, N98834 WAS STILL X-ING RWY 25R AS FLT 866 BGN TKOF. THE CESSNA PLT WAS FOCUSING HIS ATTN ON THE ACFT AHEAD & DID NOT SEE FLT 866. SHORTLY AFTER FLT 866 LIFTED OFF, ITS MAIN GEAR HIT THE CESSNA'S VERTICAL STABILIZER. THE TWR CAB SUPVR WAS WORKING A NORTH CTLR'S POSITION WHILE THE CTLR WAS ON A RELIEF BREAK. LC-1 WAS INVOLVED IN OTHER OPNL ERRORS ON 12/21/85, 7/9/86 & 10/28/86.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX87MA125
- Event ID
- 20001213X30279
- Case number
- LAX87MA125
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (5)
- 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, damage. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1987-02-26.
- API snapshot SHA-256: ff4b25291cdcf12236f0723c9ac08158a6ff728032af06fee57463c674172920; retrieved 2026-09-18T19:42:52.805Z.
- Corrected after a review of the NTSB narrative, which states these values explicitly: departure, destination. The narrative states Continental flight 866 was cleared for takeoff on runway 25R at Los Angeles International Airport, where it struck the crossing Cessna; the departure was not recorded. The narrative states the Cessna 310 N98834 was taxiing "AFTER A NGT LNDG ON NORTH SIDE OF LOS ANGELES INTL ARPT"; its destination was not recorded.