LAX83LVD02 · Cessna 172
Cessna 172 and Piper PA-28R · Accident: on ground/water collision with object during takeoff
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX83LVD02
- 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 · Cessna 172
- 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
- N29150
- Operator
- Joe Oram
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From GUALALA, CATo C · PALA ALTO, 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
- On ground/water 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
Aircraft 2 · Piper PA-28R
- 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
- N8465Y
- Operator
- John Bewer
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From GUALALA, CATo GUALALA, 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
- On ground/water 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
- Pilot in command › Visual lookout, inadequate
- Pilot of other aircraft › Visual lookout, inadequate
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Gualala, CA, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
CESSNA 172, N29150, & PIPER PA-28, N8465Y, WERE BOTH DEPARTING FROM A PVT, UNCTLD ARPT AT THE SAME TIME, BUT FROM OPPOSITE DRCTNS ON THE SAME RWY. THE RWY WAS CROWNED IN THE CENTER WHICH PREVENTED LINE-OF-SIGHT TO ACFT ON OPPOSITE ENDS. EACH PLT STATED THAT HE MADE THE APPROPRIATE RADIO CALLS ON THE UNICOM FREQ BFR STARTING TKOF. DRG THEIR TKOF ROLLS, THEY APCHD EACH OTHER NEAR THE MID PART OF THE RWY. THE CESSNA PLT STATED HE MNVRD TO THE RGT WHILE THE PIPER REMAINED IN THE CENTER OF THE RWY. THE PIPER PLT STATED HE SWERVED RIGHT, BUT THAT THE CESSNA WENT LFT, THEN RGT, THEN LFT AGAIN, & FINALLY HE PULLED UP TO AVOID A COLLISION. AS THE ACFT PASSED, THE LFT WING TIPS COLLIDED. THE OCCUPANTS OF THE PIPER HAD 32 BAGS OF MARIJUANA IN THEIR POSSESSION. THE CESSNA PLT, AN MD, STATED THE PIPER PLT HAD DILATED PUPILS, FACIAL SWEATING, TREMULOUS HANDS, TELEGRAPHED SPEECH, DIAPHORETIC APPEARANCE & SHOWED GENERAL AGGITATION.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX83LVD02
- Event ID
- 20020917X04883
- Case number
- LAX83LVD02
- 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 1982-10-11.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 1df1ff01a7963a63a9974bb8636d327185d224ea1874afcdc8734f79a3bf4bff; retrieved 2026-09-24T00:28:16.357Z.