As many questions linger a week later, multiple investigations are continuing into the fatal crash involving a pickup truck and a heavy-duty forklift driven by a Santa Maria Public Airport District board member. 

One woman died and her father was injured shortly after 3 p.m. May 2 when a small truck struck the tines of a telehandler, or telescoping forklift, at the intersection of Hangar Street and Skyway Drive near the airport. 

Tiffany Ann Peterson, 39, of Orcutt was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash after the truck driven by her father, Charles Peterson, hit the heavy-duty prongs. 

David Baskett, 81, was driving the Caterpillar telehandler, or heavy equipment with a forklift attached its arm, on Hangar Street preparing to enter Skyway Drive, where the speed limit is 55 mph.

Baskett, who serves on the Santa Maria Public Airport District board of directors, was absent from Thursday night’s meeting. 

“Investigations are currently underway, so further comments by board members and staff will be reserved until those investigations are concluded,” board president Nash Moreno said at the start of Thursday’s regularly scheduled board meeting. 

Moreno also mentioned the GoFundMe page created to help the Peterson family, noting that several people affiliated with the airport had contributed. Donations neared $17,000 by midafternoon Friday.

“I would like to reiterate that our hearts are with the Peterson family. What they are currently facing is something none of us would ever want to experience,” he said. 

Airport officials also have said that “it does not appear that any district equipment was involved nor was board member David Baskett acting in any district capacity.”

Members of the Santa Maria Police Department Traffic Bureau launched a crash investigation, which was ongoing a week after the incident. 

It’s not uncommon for law enforcement investigations into complex vehicle crashes to last weeks, or even months, before a report gets forwarded to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office for consideration of whether to file criminal charges.

In addition to the police investigation, the airport district apparently is conducting its own investigation and has removed Baskett’s access to the airfield, according to an email between him and district officials.

In the email Baskett forwarded to Noozhawk, attorney Joshua George asked 15 questions, including about the board member’s experience operating a telehandler at the airport and if other damage incidents occurred or were reported.

The attorney noted that airport safety particularly within the air operations area (AOA), or fenced area, is important for the district’s operation. 

“While the district’s investigation is underway, your badge access to the AOA will remain suspended,” George wrote.

Baskett asked about the legal basis for the “so far un-supported position that does not allow me to have access to the airport to conduct my duties and also access my jointly owned aircraft.”

It’s not clear why he was operating heavy equipment at the airport. He claimed he was moving items from one hangar to another.

However, he doesn’t lease a hangar anymore after being evicted. Additionally, his MiG-21 fighter jet was auctioned as part of his bankruptcy proceedings last summer and airport staff emptied his hangar in November.

Baskett also said in the email that he would “develop recommended changes to, or new, regulations to help ensure that such a tragedy does not happen again.”

“It is the history of aviation (and other activities) that safety rules are often written in the blood of those who have died in accidents,” Baskett added in the email sent three days after the fatal crash.