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LAX86LA031 · Piper PA-28-181

3 Nov 1985 · Angwin, CA, United States

Pacific Union College Flight Piper PA-28-181 and Pacific Union College Flight Cessna 152 · Accident: midair collision during takeoff

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Event

NTSB case
LAX86LA031
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 · Piper PA-28-181

Aircraft type
Piper PA-28
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
N21491
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From 203 · Angwin, CATo 203 · Angwin, 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
Takeoff · roll/run
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
Midair collision
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Minor

Aircraft 2 · Cessna 152

Aircraft type
Cessna 152
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
N24932
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From 203 · Angwin, CATo 203 · Angwin, 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
Landing · flare/touchdown
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
Midair collision
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 › Radio communications, not used
  • Pilot in command › VFR procedures, improper
  • Pilot in command › Visual lookout, not maintained
  • Pilot in command(cfi) › VFR procedures, improper
  • Pilot in command(cfi) › Visual lookout, inadequate

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

NTSB narrative

NEAR THE COMPLETION OF A DUAL INSTRUCTIONAL FLT WITH A PRE-SOLO STUDENT, THE CFI FOLLOWED THE PROCEDURES RECOMMENDED IN THE AIR & ANNOUNCED HIS CESSNA ACFT'S POSITION OVER THE CTAF STATING HIS INTENTIONS & IDENTIFYING HIS LOCATION ON THE 45 DEG, ENTRY & DOWNWIND LEGS. THE CFI FAILED TO TRANSMIT HIS POSITION ON THE FINAL APPROACH LEG, & FAILED TO OBSERVE A PIPER ACFT ON ITS TAKEOFF ROLL. THE PLT IN THE PIPER ACFT, WHO WAS PREPARING TO DEPART, FAILED TO ANNOUNCE HIS INTENTIONS & POSITION ON THE TAXIWAY/RWY. FAILED TO OBSERVE THE INBND CESSNA & RENCE FAILED TO GIVE THAT ACFT THE RIGHT-OF-WAY AS REQUIRED. AS THE PIPER WAS BEING ROTATED FOR TAKEOFF THE CESSNA DESCENDED ONTO & COLLIDED WITH IT. THE PIPER PLT ABORTED HIS TAKEOFF, & CESSNA LANDED WITHOUT FURTHER MISHAP. BOTH PLTS REPORTED THAT THE PRESENCE OF TALL TREES LOCATED ADJACENT TO THE RWY'S APPROACH HAD OBSTRUCTED THEIR VISION.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX86LA031
Event ID
20001214X38258
Case number
LAX86LA031
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: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 0b7ea74d65c4b1890718a60448e740cdde9544987a56c8775c64b4948b97decf; retrieved 2026-09-23T15:22:49.614Z.