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LAX86FA130 · Enstrom 280C

28 Feb 1986 · Ontario, CA, United States

Enstrom 280C · Accident: in flight encounter with weather on approach

From Avi Suquilla Airport (P20) to Long Beach International Airport (LGB)

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Event

NTSB case
LAX86FA130
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
2 · 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
Instrument Meteorological Cond

Enstrom 280C

Aircraft type
Enstrom 280
Category
Helicopter
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
N5694R
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Avi Suquilla Airport (P20), Parker, AZTo Long Beach International Airport (LGB), Long Beach, 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
Approach
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 encounter with weather
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Visual flight rules (VFR) flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC)
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Aircraft handling › Not maintained
  • Copilot/second pilot › Impairment(alcohol)
  • Copilot/second pilot › Spatial disorientation
  • Pilot in command › Spatial disorientation
  • VFR flight into imc › Continued

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

BFR DEPTG TUCSON, AZ ON A RETURN FLT TO LONG BEACH, CA, 2 STUDENT HELICOPTER PLTS (THE OWNERS) WERE ADVISED VFR FLT WAS NOT RCMDD DUE TO LOW CEILING/VIS AT THE DESTN. NEITHER PLT WAS ENDORSED FOR X-COUNTRY FLT. EN ROUTE, THEY LNDD/REFUELED AT GILA BEND & PARKER, AZ. AT 2124 PST, THEY TOLD TRACON THEY WERE VFR AT 4500' & RCVD VECTORS TO LONG BEACH. HOWEVER, DRG ARRIVAL, THE ARPT WAS NOT VISIBLE DUE TO A 500' OVERCAST. THE CREW RPRTD 40 MIN OF FUEL REMAINING & REQD VECTORS TO THE NEAREST ARPT WITH VFR CONDS. ONTARIO INTL & NORTON AFB WERE THE ONLY ARPTS IN THE AREA WITH NO CEILING; BOTH WERE RPRTG APRX 1 MI VIS WITH FOG & HAZE. THE CREW DIVERTED TO ONTARIO & WERE CLRD FOR A SPECIAL VFR DSCNT TO RWY 26L. ABOUT 3 MIN LATER, WHILE DSCNDG THRU 2000', THEIR CLNC WAS AMENDED DUE TO POSSIBLE CONFLICTING TRAFFIC. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, RADIO & RADAR CONTACT WITH THE ACFT WERE LOST. AT 0151, THE ACFT WAS FND APRX 1 MI SOUTH OF THE ARPT WHERE IT IMPACTED IN A NOSE LOW, LEFT BANK ATTITUDE. TESTS SHOWED 1 STUDENT (PRESUMED 2ND-IN-COMMAND) HAD A BLOOD/ALCOHOL LVL OF 0.160%.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX86FA130
Event ID
20001213X32873
Case number
LAX86FA130
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 1986-03-01.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 85b9e1e95fc7b24aa009be1e6e96650fbff086a14e8d09c4c7ec05684f7da441; retrieved 2026-09-21T04:39:29.874Z.