Santa Barbara Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Santa Barbara, California 93102
Tuesady, May 23, 1995 12:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A REVIEW OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER TAPE TRANSCRIPTS VERIFIED THAT BOTH PILOTS HAD BEEN GIVEN AND ACKNOWLEDGED TAXI CLEARANCES, BUT NEITHER HAD RECEIVED TRAFFIC ADVISORIES REGARDING EACH OTHERS TAXI ROUTES. THE WLAC-1 WAS CLEARED TO TAXI WESTBOUND ON TAXIWAY CHARLIE. THE AERO COMMANDER HAD ALSO BEEN CLEARED TO TAXI ON TAXIWAY CHARLIE AND WAS ENTERING THE TAXIWAY FROM THE RAMP. AS THE AERO COMMANDER MOVED ONTO THE TAXIWAY BOTH AIRCRAFT CONVERGED AND COLLIDED. NEITHER PILOT REPORTED SEEING THE OTHER UNTIL JUST BEFORE THE COLLISION. THE PORTION OF TAXIWAY CHARLIE WHERE THE COLLISION OCCURRED WAS REDESIGNATED A RAMP AREA IN 1986. ACCORDING TO FAA AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL HANDBOOK 7110.65, NON-MOVEMENT AREAS INCLUDING RAMPS ARE NOT UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE TOWER. THE HANDBOOK FURTHER STATES THAT THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR COLLISION AVOIDANCE IN NON-MOVEMENT AREAS IS THAT OF THE PILOT.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the inadequate visual lookout by both pilots and their failures to maintain adequate separation from each other while taxiing in a non-movement area.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/23/1995
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1215
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City SANTA BARBARA
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93102
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport SANTA BARBARA
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SBA
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 10
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1146 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID SBA
Elevation of weather observation facility 10
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 12000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3300
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 981
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 23 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1408
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Apr 7 2001 12:43PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft #2

Aircraft Registration Number N9076N N101WL
NTSB Number LAX95LA194A LAX95LA194B
Missing Aircraft Indicator N N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None None
Flight plan Was Activated? -- --
Damage Substantial Substantial
Aircraft Fire None None
Aircraft Explosion None None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name AERO COMMANDER SHAFFER
Aircraft Model 500S WLAC-1
Aircraft Series Identifier 500S WLAC-1
Aircraft Serial Number 3063 001
Certified Max Gross Weight 6750 2400
Aircraft Category Airplane Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No Yes
Flight Crew Seats -- --
Cabin Crew Seats -- --
Passenger Seats -- --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 7 4
Number of Engines 2 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 1 1995 12:00AM Oct 21 1994 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 15 118
Airframe Hours 7005 248
ELT Installed Yes Yes
ELT Activated No No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No No
ELT Type -- --
Aircraft Owner Name COMMADAIR INC. DENNIS BRUCE DIERENFIELD
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 686 16869 S.W. 65TH AVENUE
Aircraft Owner City SOLANA BEACH LAKE OSWEGO
Aircraft Owner State CA OR
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92075 97035
Operator is an individual? -- --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes No
Operator Street Address 14 CAMINO VERDE
Operator City SANTA BARBARA
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 93103
Operator Code AFJA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown Unknown
Operator Certificate Number -- --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not -- --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight -- --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail -- --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Aerial Observation Personal
Second Pilot on Board No No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes Yes
Departure Airport Code SBA SBA
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt -- dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code CRQ
Destination City PALOMAR
Destination State CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi Taxi
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo dbo
Since inspection or accident -- --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0 0
Runway Length -- --
Runway Width -- --
Sight Seeing flight No No
Air Medical Flight No No
Medical Flight -- --