Investigations into fatal forklift accident at Santa Maria Airport continue

In a tragic accident involving a forklift driven by a Santa Maria Airport board member and a pickup truck, 39-year-old Tiffany Ann Peterson was killed on May 2 when the truck driven by her father, Charles Peterson, “hit the forks,” according to Sergeant Jason Zickuhr of the Santa Maria Department of Transportation. The truck driver suffered moderate injuries, while the forklift operator, 81-year-old David Baskett, escaped unharmed.

The blue Dodge pickup truck was traveling south on Skyway Drive, the public road parallel to the Santa Maria Public Airport, when it collided with the forklift at the intersection with Hangar Street, a smaller road that leads to private hangars. It is still under investigation whether the forklift stopped at the intersection. The truck then struck a fire hydrant, flooding the accident scene.

Tiffany Ann Peterson was described as a “young, sweet and loving person who adored her family and her cats,” according to Patricia S. Slyfeiner, who set up a GoFundMe page on behalf of the family.

The family’s lawyer, Robert Bell, told the Independent that the family will not comment at this time.

David Baskett is a controversial figure at the airport and was removed from his board committees months ago because of “a lack of confidence in his ability to represent the airport based on his past actions,” said Ignacio “Nash” Moreno, chairman of the airport board. Those violations included violating the Brown Act, making false refund requests and conducting unauthorized business, among others, Moreno said. He added that he was unsure if Baskett planned to resign from his board position at the airport in light of the accident.

Baskett is also an elected board member of the Santa Maria Joint High School Union District. Both boards say he was not acting in an official capacity during the incident.

While it is unclear why Baskett was driving the heavy-duty forklift, Moreno said it appeared as if Baskett was moving items that were previously in his hangar.

Baskett was evicted from his hangar by the airport’s board of directors in November 2020. According to airport district attorney Joshua George, Baskett failed to vacate the hangar, which led to an unlawful possession lawsuit and judgment from the airport district in August 2021. In response, Baskett “has filed multiple lawsuits against the airport and other board members,” George added. The litigation is still pending.