Los Angeles, CA, USA
N320QS
CESSNA 680
The captain reported that following an uneventful landing, the ground controller cleared the airplane to parking via a left turn on the adjoining taxiway. The captain stated that the flight crew observed the marshaller, who was located on the parking ramp, and continued in the direction of the parking area. Shortly after turning towards the parking ramp, the airplane collided with a ground service vehicle that pulled in front of the airplane. The service vehicle was traveling perpendicular to the airplane's direction of travel. The driver of the service vehicle reported that he was driving on the non-movement service road located adjacent to the taxiway and briefly looked away from the road towards the active runway. When the driver looked back towards the service road, he observed the accident airplane and applied brakes. The ground vehicle stopped in front of the airplane's left wing just before the collision occurred. At the time of the collision the airplane was transitioning from a movement area to a non-movement area. The service vehicle was operating in a non-movement area and not required to be in contact with air traffic control.
On November 11, 2008, at 2310 Pacific standard time, a Cessna Citation 680 airplane, N320QS, operated by NetJets Aviation, Inc., sustained substantial damage when it was struck by a ground vehicle at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Los Angeles, California. The captain and first officer, the sole occupants, were not injured. The driver of the ground vehicle sustained minor injuries. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan was in effect for the flight that originated at the Scottsdale Airport, Scottsdale, Arizona. The non-scheduled flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. In a written statement submitted to the NTSB, the captain reported that after landing on runway 25L, ground control cleared the airplane to parking via a left turn on taxiway Alpha. The captain reported that the airplane's nose taxi light, navigation lights, ground recognition light and tail logo lights were on. After turning left on to taxiway Alpha the pilots stopped the airplane for a two to three minute air traffic control (ATC) traffic delay due to blocking traffic. After the traffic was cleared, the pilots continued on taxiway Alpha and initiated a right turn onto taxiway Alpha 5 and then to the parking ramp. The captain stated that the first officer observed the marshaller, who was located on the Fixed Base Operators (FBO) ramp and informed him of the marshaller's location. The captain reported when the airplane was on the taxiway centerline, the first officer asked if he wanted the taxi light turned off, after replying "yes" the first officer turned off the taxi light and the captain "…felt a large impact." In a written statement submitted to the NTSB, the first officer stated while taxiing on taxiway Alpha 5 the airplane's left wing was struck by a service vehicle. "Normal shutdown was completed and the crew exited…" In a written statement submitted to the NTSB, the driver of the ground vehicle reported he was driving along a service road parallel to taxiway Alpha. The driver stated he "noticed my flight, 2205 departing on 25R and briefly looked in that direction when I looked back to the road, immediately in front of me was an aircraft." The driver applied brakes and the vehicle stopped in front of the airplane's left wing just before impact. Subsequent to the impact, the ground vehicle rolled over. At the time of the accident, the driver reported he did not see the airplane's taxi light illuminated. In a written statement submitted to the NTSB, the marshaller, who was guiding the airplane onto the ramp, stated he observed a vehicle driving towards the airplane; "I did not think that he was going to keep going so I kept marshaling the aircraft towards the ramp when I noticed that the service truck hit the aircraft's wing." Surveillance video of the accident sequence was obtained by the National Transportation Safety Board. The video showed that the airplane was illuminated with navigation lights, beacon, wing lights and taxi light up to the point the collision occurred.
Failure of the ground service vehicle driver to maintain adequate clearance/distance from the taxiing airplane.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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