Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Whyalla American Samoa
Wednesday, May 31, 2000 19:05 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On May 31, 2000, at 1905 central standard time, a Piper PA-31-350 twin-engine airplane, Australian Registration VH-MZK, was destroyed during a water ditching following a loss of engine power near Whyalla, State of South Australia, Australia. The commercial pilot and the 7 passengers aboard the commuter flight were fatally injured. The airplane, operating as flight 904, was owned and operated by Whyalla Airlines PTY. LTD., of Whyalla, South Australia. An IFR flight plan was filed for the scheduled commuter flight between Adelaide and Whyalla. The flight departed Adelaide at 1823 and was scheduled to arrive at Whyalla at approximately 1910.
According to preliminary reports, at 1901 the flight was in cruise flight over Spencer Gulf at 6,000 feet when the pilot transmitted a Mayday call to the Flight Service Station, stating that they had experienced a loss of engine power. The airplane impacted the water about 28 kilometers southeast of the Whyalla Airport.
The investigation is under the control and jurisdiction of the Government of Australia. Any further information may be obtained from:
Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) P.O. Box 967, Civic Square Canberra A.C.T. 2608 Australia This report is for informational purposes only and contains only information released by, or obtained from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/31/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1905 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | WHYALLA |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | AMERICAN SAMOA |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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 | Not Reported |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 8 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 8 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 0 |
| NTSB Notification Source | ATSB |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 28 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | -- |
| NTSB Number | FTW00RA187 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Unknown |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-350 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-31-350 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Unknown |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 209 |
| Operator City | WHYALLA |
| Operator State | OF |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 5600 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Unknown |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | UNK |
| Departure City | ADELAIDE |
| Departure State | OF |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | UNK |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | OF |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2001 3:26PM |
| 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 | -- |