Incident Overview
On November 11, 2008, at 2310 Pacific standard time, a Cessna Citation 680 airplane, registration N320QS, operated by NetJets Aviation, Inc., sustained substantial damage when it was struck by a ground vehicle at 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 Scottsdale Airport, Scottsdale, Arizona. The non-scheduled flight was operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Flight Crew Statements
In a written statement to the National Transportation Safety Board (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 airplane's nose taxi light, navigation lights, ground recognition light, and tail logo lights were on. After turning left onto taxiway Alpha, the pilots stopped the airplane for a two- to three-minute air traffic control (ATC) traffic delay due to blocking traffic. Once the traffic was cleared, they continued on taxiway Alpha and initiated a right turn onto taxiway Alpha 5, then to the parking ramp. The captain stated that the first officer observed the marshaller, who was located on the Fixed Base Operator's (FBO) ramp, and informed him of the marshaller's location. 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.
The first officer stated in a written statement that 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.
Ground Vehicle Driver Statement
The driver of the ground vehicle reported in a written statement that he was driving along a service road parallel to taxiway Alpha. He noticed his flight, 2205 departing on 25R, and briefly looked in that direction. When he looked back to the road, immediately in front of him was an aircraft. He applied brakes, and the vehicle stopped in front of the airplane's left wing just before impact. After the impact, the ground vehicle rolled over. The driver reported that at the time of the accident, he did not see the airplane's taxi light illuminated.
Marshaller Statement
In a written statement, the marshaller, who was guiding the airplane onto the ramp, stated that he observed a vehicle driving towards the airplane. He did not think that the vehicle was going to keep going, so he kept marshaling the aircraft toward the ramp. He then noticed that the service truck hit the aircraft's wing.
Surveillance Video
Surveillance video of the accident sequence was obtained by the NTSB. The video showed that the airplane was illuminated with navigation lights, beacon, wing lights, and taxi light up to the point the collision occurred.