# Accident 20040123000349A: Amtr T18, Compton, CA, January 23, 2004

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: January 23, 2004, 09:59 local time
- Place: Compton, CA
- Airport: Compton Airport
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Landing
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 33.8900° N, 118.2506° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.8900&lon=-118.2506&mi=10
- Aircraft: N64EC, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N64EC-2004-05-26) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cox Edwin THORP T-18 (registry code 05606YD, https://openairdocs.org/model/cox-edwin-thorp-t-18) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming O-320-D2J (registry code 41595, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-o-320-d2j) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: AMTR T18
- Reported engine: LYC O320D2J
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Pilot flight hours: 0 total, 0 in this make and model, 0 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB LAX04LA106](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX04LA106) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20040123000349A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

(-23) ACCORDING TO WITNESSES INTERVIEWED AT THE SCENE OF THE ACCIDENT, THE PILOT OF THE T-18, N64EC WAS LANDING ON RUNWAY 25 RIGHT WHEN HE HAD TO MANEUVER TO AVOID HITTING A HELICOPTER, N29LB THAT WAS ALSO LANDING ON 25 RIGHT. WHILE MANEUVERING, THE T-18 BECAME INVERTED AND IMPACTED THE GROUND, FATALLY INJURING THE PILOT. A FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR WHO WAS IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT STATED THAT HE HEARD THE PILOT OF N64EC MAKE A RADIO CALL INDICATING THAT HE WAS LANDING ON 25 RIGHT. HE THEN HEARD A CALL FROM N29LB, WHICH STATED THAT THEY WERE 2 MILES EAST OF THE AIRPORT ON A STRAIGHT IN APPROACH FOR 25 RIGHT. THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, ATTEMPTING TO WARN BOTH PILOTS, SAID "WATCH OUT GUYS" OVER THE RADIO. THE INSTRUCTOR WITNESSED THE HELICOPTER ARRIVE OVER THE RUNWAY FIRST, AND A FEW SECONDS LATER, SAW T-18 TURN RIGHT TO AVOID THE HELICOPTER, THEN "APPEARED TO STALL, INVERT AND CRASH." HE STATED THAT BOTH AIRCRAFT WERE ABOUT 100 FEET APART AND 8 FEET ABOVE THE RUNWAY WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB LAX04LA106](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX04LA106), Jan 23, 2004: Cox Thorpe T-18 (N64EC), Compton, CA, substantial damage, 1 fatal. Probable cause: both pilots' failure to see and avoid one another that resulted in the airplane's encounter with downwash induced wake vortices from the helicopter, and the airplane pilot's subsequent loss of…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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