LAX86LA086 · Taylorcraft BC12-D
Taylorcraft BC12-D · Accident: in flight collision with object on approach
From Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to Buckeye, AZ
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX86LA086
- 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
Taylorcraft BC12-D
- Aircraft type
- Taylorcraft BC12
- 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
- N95009
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), Phoenix, AZTo Buckeye, AZ
- 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 · VFR pattern final
- 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
- 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
- Wire, transmission
- 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 › Altitude, misjudged
- Pilot in command › Clearance, not maintained
- Pilot in command › Visual lookout, inadequate
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Buckeye, AZ, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
WHILE ON A PERSONAL FLIGHT TO A PRIVATELY OWNED AIRSTRIP, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH WIRES LOCATED AT THE WEST END OF THE AIRSTRIP WHILE ON FINAL APPROACH TO RUNWAY 08. THE PILOT INITIALLY REPORTED THAT HE HAD MISJUDGED THE AIRCRAFT HEIGHT AND COLLIDED WITH THE WIRES. IN THE PILOT/OPERATOR AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT FORM THE PILOT REPORTED THAT THE SUN PREVENTED HIM FROM SEEING THE WIRES. THE LOCATION AND BEARING TO THE SUN AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT WAS 35 DEG ABOVE THE HORIZON AND A MAGNETIC BEARING OF ABOUT 169 DEG. THE WIRES WERE UNMARKED AND REMOVED BY THE ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY SUBSEQUENT TO THE ACCIDENT.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX86LA086
- Event ID
- 20010110X00200
- Case number
- LAX86LA086
- 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: f5a12c70b4e4bb80c0de67a7e43a3f2957f776ff94826eed38298948497ffa71; retrieved 2026-09-21T17:04:42.298Z.