‘It’s Like a Big Interchange,’ Pilot Says of Collision Area

The skies above Newhall Pass, where Monday’s midair collision occurred, are heavily traveled by small plane pilots, who say extra caution is needed there to avoid other aircraft.

Private pilots heading north or south of the Los Angeles area routinely use the pass, as do fliers headed in and out of the Valley’s three airports--Van Nuys, Burbank and Whiteman.

“It’s like a big interchange. You’ve got more people in the same space and you just have to keep your guard up,” said Kent Yarnell, a flight instructor and member of the Van Nuys-based Eight Ball Flying Club.

“It’s easy to get distracted,” Yarnell said. “And that’s all it takes, is a momentary lapse of attention.”

Private pilots who are not on instruments follow a see-and-avoid protocol and are not required to check in with the Federal Aviation Administration in the pass.

After Monday’s midair collision that killed all four occupants of two small planes, FAA officials declined comment Monday on air safety in the pass.

Commercial airliners fly at higher altitudes and don’t use the pass, but general aviation aircraft tend to fly over it at relatively low altitudes.

“A pilot of a single-engine plane is going to use the pass because there is better terrain below if he or she has to make an emergency landing, rather than going over the mountains,” said Drew Steketee, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn.

Steketee said the pass is one of the most congested general aviation corridors in the nation.

“The passes are the preferred route. But it does serve to concentrate the air traffic,” Steketee said.

Richard Mend, an FAA certified safety instructor at Van Nuys, said problems can occur when pilots do not use correct safety procedures.

“It is very heavily traveled. Whenever you are there, there are always aircraft going through, 24 hours a day,” Mend said.

“But there is nothing dangerous about this path. I fly through it all the time. I just keep my eyes open.”

He estimates that half the pilots flying through the pass do not have their landing lights on.

Kent Cahill, who flies in the San Fernando Valley about once a month, said it can be hard to spot other planes when they are flying directly toward you--as often happens with the north-south flight patterns through Newhall Pass.

“When he is crossing your path and he is in profile, it is no problem, but if he is going straight at you, it looks like a dot,” said Cahill, who has been flying small planes since 1987.

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Times staff writer Martha L. Willman contributed to this story.

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