Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Saturday, November 20, 1999 19:31 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot ditched the airplane at sea following the failure and seizure of the engine. The FAA had issued a special airworthiness certificate for a ferry flight for the new airplane on November 15, 1999. The airplane had been modified with a special 110-gallon synthetic fuel bladder located behind the pilot's seat. The airplane took off at 0630 PST for the trans Pacific flight to Hawaii, and eventually Sydney, Australia. The pilot said that the flight was normal until they were approximately 600 nautical miles from Hilo, when they noticed a gradual loss of oil pressure accompanied by an increasing oil temperature. The pilot called the U.S. Coast Guard for assistance and they launched an airplane to provide an escort towards Hilo. The pilot stated that the engine seized when they were approximately 340 miles from Hilo. A complete loss of oil pressure and a knocking sound from the engine preceded the seizure. A merchant ship rescued the pilot and his passenger after they spent about 10 hours in the ocean. The pilot stated that the airplane had undergone a 50-hour inspection, and that it had about 35-38 hours total time on it when it sank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An oil starvation induced failure and seizure of the engine. The reasons for the oil starvation event are undetermined.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/20/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1931 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | HILO |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96720 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 553 Hawaii Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 230 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ITO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 38 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 340 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | HST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1921 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 20 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4148X |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA039 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| 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 | 2843275 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 28 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 37 |
| Airframe Hours | 37 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J. K. VINING INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | MISSION |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 66202 |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SBA |
| Departure City | SANTA BARBARA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 630 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KITO |
| Destination City | HILO |
| Destination State | HW |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:05AM |
| 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 | -- |