After a small plane took off from Whiteman Airport, narrowly missing homes and stores in adjacent Pacoima before crashing into an auto-parts store parking lot last month, a frustrated LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath on Tuesday, May 5, 2026 is demanding answers from federal authorities.
As to how to make the airport safer in wake of the most recent airplane crash and a series of crashes involving the county-owned general aviation airport over the last few years, the Board of Supervisors approved Horvath’s motion to find out what new safety measures can be implemented.
The motion asks the county Department of Public Works to come back in a week with recommendations, timelines, costs and how to pay for any new safety improvements.
That may in fact be the easy part for the supervisor who represents the area, even though Pacoima is part of the city of Los Angeles and is located in the northeastern San Fernando Valley, part of Horvath’s 3rd District.
The hard part for Horvath is getting timely answers from a federal bureaucracy, despite pleas from the supervisor in two separate letters asking the Federal Aviation Administration for a full investigation and safety recommendations, and the National Transportation Safety Board to expedite its investigation of the crash.
Despite receiving calls in her office about the crash, neighborhood safety and the airport’s future from worried Pacoima residents and airport supporters alike, Horvath said the county owns the airport, but the FAA oversees air traffic control operations, pilot protocols, and navigable airspace. The NTSB performs airplane investigations that usually result in a determination of cause, and safety recommendations.
But the overlapping federal, city, county and state jurisdictions creates an alphabet stew — with few clear answers.
“The cause of the crash remains unknown,” said Jason Morgan, the county’s chief of aviation. He said the NTSB may soon provide a preliminary report, but that will most likely say what everyone already knows. A final report — with a probable cause — will take at least six more months, he said.
“Every day we wait, people will have more questions and continue to live in fear,” Horvath said. “A plane going down next to homes and businesses in Pacoima should never happen — and our community deserves answers.”
While Horvath said the motion demands answers mostly from the feds, that will take time. Meanwhile there are social media posts calling for closure of the airport, and supporters who say that would be foolish since Whiteman is a critical part of safety for Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighting aircraft.
Morgan’s boss, Public Works Director Mark Pestrella, was in Washington D.C. trying to get some answers from federal aviation regulators, said Steve Burger, deputy Public Works director.
“If we don’t get answers, we can’t allow this airport to function this way,” Horvath said.
Meanwhile, Morgan gave an account of the plane crash, with a few new details:
• He confirmed the Cessna 172 Skyhawk took off from Whiteman Airport in the midday on April 20. A short time later, the plane plowed into power lines and crashed in the parking lot of an auto parts store. Only the pilot was in the plane. He was removed by bystanders and is recovering in a local hospital.
• “The pilot was in communication with air traffic control personnel,” Morgan said. “There was no indication of anything unusual from the pilot,” he added. He did not speculate why the pilot, a 70-year-old man flying alone in a plane that according to the FAA was registered to a flight school based out of the Whiteman Airport, flew through the power lines and crash-landed in the store parking lot.
The plane crashed into power lines, spreading blackouts to neighbors and businesses. LADWP restored most of the power that evening, the rest of the outages were restored by the next day, Morgan said.
The county began a study of other land uses that may be possible at the airport in April 2024, Horvath reported. In October 2024, the Board of Supervisors added another component to the study that examines other uses should Whiteman Airport be shut down, including the possibility of building affordable housing, the Southern California News Group reported.
That addition brought the study’s cost to $1.9 million to look at economic impacts and alternative uses “for the potential repurposing” of the general aviation airport, according to county documents. The study will also determine the economic benefits of aviation operations.
Matthew Stone, a noncommercial pilot and supporter of the airport, said Horvath is preventing safety measures from being installed by freezing FAA capital project funding. Horvath said she temporarily froze the funds pending the outcome of the land-use study.
Morgan said the county relies on federal dollars to make improvements. Horvath asked him if the temporary freeze on the FAA grant funding impacted safety at the airport.
“No, it has not,” Morgan responded. He said the airport passed two different safety inspections by the FAA and Caltrans. Horvath in a statement said Burger also confirmed that a temporary pause on pursuing FAA grants during the ongoing study did not impact airport safety.
On Jan. 9, 2022, a plane crashed seconds after takeoff from Whiteman Airport, landing on the train tracks near Osborne Street and San Fernando Road. In April of that year, another plane crashed near the airport, killing the pilot.