Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Maunaloa, Hawaii 96770
Wednesday, December 23, 1987 18:53 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE FLIGHT WAS TO BE FLOWN ACROSS A 22 MILE CHANNEL BETWEEN ISLANDS ON AN OVERCAST NIGHT WITH NO MOON AND NO GROUND REFERENCE LIGHTS. THE AIRCRAFT DISAPPEARED FROM RADAR AND, AFTER EXTENSIVE SEARCHES, COULD NOT BE FOUND. A THREE DIMENSIONAL FLIGHT TRACK WAS RECONSTRUCTED USING RECORDED RADAR DATA. THE DATA INDICATED THAT IN THE LAST 60 SEC THE AIRCRAFT SLOWED FROM 170 TO 95 KTS, GAINED 500 FT IN ALTITUDE, AND TURNED LEFT 190 DEGREES BEFORE ABRUPTLY DISAPPEARING FROM RADAR. FLIGHT TESTS INDICATED THAT THE MOVEMENTS OF THE AIRCRAFT IN THE LAST 60 SEC OF THE FLIGHT WERE CONSISTENT WITH A LOSS OF THE LEFT ENGINE, WITHOUT COMPENSATION BY THE PILOT. THE OPERATOR'S TRAINING PROGRAM DID NOT PROVIDE FOR NIGHT OR INSTRUMENT FLIGHT CONDITIONS. THE LAST DOCUMENTED INSTRUMENT TIME FOR THE PILOT WAS 15 MONTHS PRIOR DURING A CHECKRIDE. THE PILOT FLEW SPORADIC NIGHT FLIGHTS. THE PILOT HAD PREVIOUSLY FLOWN DURING THE DAY AND WAS ON HIS THIRTEENTH HOUR OF DUTY. AIRCRAFT DAMAGE AND INJURY INDEX PRESUMED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/23/1987 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1853 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | MAUNALOA |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96770 |
| Event Date Year | 1987 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1855 Hawaii Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 262 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HNL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 13 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 31 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | HST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 12 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1000 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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) | 2643 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 23 1987 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2340 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 38459 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 3:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N712AN |
| NTSB Number | LAX88FA075 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| 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-31-350 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-31-350 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-7652151 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7000 |
| 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 | 10 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 6 1987 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 46 |
| Airframe Hours | 6516 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIRTOUR ACQUISITION CORP. |
| 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 | PANORAMA AIR TOURS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 100 KAULELE PLACE |
| Operator City | HONOLULU |
| Operator State | HI |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 96819 |
| Operator Code | PAHA |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HNL |
| Departure City | HONOLULU |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1840 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MKK |
| Destination City | MOLOKAI |
| 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 10:36AM |
| 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 | -- |