Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lanai, Hawaii 96763
Saturday, July 6, 1996 18:21 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot rented the aircraft for an inter-island personal cross-country flight. According to the pilot, he departed Honolulu with full fuel tanks (48 useable gallons) and flew to the island of Molokai, where a full stop landing was made. About 15 minutes later, he departed and flew to the island of Maui, where another full stop landing was made. The aircraft was on the ground for 40 minutes, then departed for Hilo on the island of Hawaii, arriving 47 minutes later at 1530. After 25 minutes on the ground, the flight departed Hilo for a nonstop return to Honolulu over a direct route. The pilot stated that while on the ground at Hilo he estimated the fuel used to that point at 26 gallons, and further estimated that the remaining 22 gallons were sufficient to 'easily be able to fly back to Honolulu and have a 30 minute reserve.' The pilot did not refuel while at the Hilo airport. One hour 20 minutes into the return flight he noticed that the left fuel gage was decreasing rapidly and immediately checked the aircraft exterior for signs of leakage and found none. With the fuel selector on the left tank, the engine began to lose power and the pilot switched to the right tank, then contacted Honolulu CERAP, declared a low fuel state, and requested radar vectors to the nearest airport. The controller provided a heading to an airport on Lanai, about 27 miles distant. At 1816, the engine lost all power and the aircraft was forced to ditch in the ocean. The pilot and passenger exited the aircraft into the water before it sank and were picked up 25 minutes later by a passing boat. Of the 5 hours 3 minutes elapsed from the time the pilot departed Honolulu until the accident, 3 hours 43 minutes was flight time, and 1 hour 20 minutes was ground time. The pilot did not have floatation or survival gear onboard the aircraft. The water depth at the accident site is in excess of 600 feet and the aircraft has not been recovered.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inadequate fuel planning and failure to refuel the aircraft prior to initiating a 280-mile over water nonstop leg of the flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/6/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1821 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | LANAI |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96763 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 5 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 803 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 6 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2215 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4319J |
| NTSB Number | LAX96LA264 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8490008 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 30 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | COSMO FLYING SCHOOL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 100 KAULELE PLACE |
| Aircraft Owner City | HONOLULU |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96819 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ITO |
| Departure City | HILO |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1642 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HNL |
| Destination City | HONOLULU |
| Destination State | HI |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |