Lanai Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lanai City, Hawaii 96763
Thursday, June 14, 2001 20:44 HST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The aircraft collided with terrain during a night cross-country dual instructional flight. Prior to the flight, the student obtained an abbreviated weather briefing. A preflight specialist advised, "VFR flight was not recommended" along a portion of the planned flight route. Along the planned route of flight multiple scattered to broken cloud layers were forecast from 2,000 feet msl to 6,500 feet, with few clouds at 1,000 feet, and tops at 8,000 feet. The student filed a flight plan for cruise flight at an altitude of 3,000 feet msl between islands. The accident site was at 1,760 feet msl. The flight departed its home base about 1945. Sunset was at 1910, and the end of civil twilight was 1934. During an en route contact with an FAA Automated Flight Service Station, the student asked if the filed destination airport was public or private. The specialist advised the student that it was a private airport. The student cancelled the flight plan, and indicated that they were returning to the departure airport. The student pilot was flying the airplane and as weather conditions deteriorated, the certified flight instructor (CFI) advised the student to make a right turn. Instead, the student made a left, descending turn into a cloud. The CFI took control of the airplane, and initiated a climb; however, the airplane impacted the ground. Post accident examination revealed no mechanical anomalies with the airframe or engine.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the CFI's inadequate in-flight planning/decision making, inadequate supervision, and his delayed remedial action, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/14/2001
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 2044
Event Time Zone Hawaii Standard Time
Event City Lanai City
Event State HAWAII
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 96763
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 205258N
Event Location Longitude 1565754W
Event Location Airport LANAI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LNY
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 5
Degrees magnetic from airport 332
Airport Elevation 1308
Weather Briefing Completeness Partial - limited by pilot
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1845 Hawaii Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 150
Weather Observation Facility ID LNY
Elevation of weather observation facility 1308
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation HST
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 20
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 40
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 20
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.99
Density Altitude (feet) 2747
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16298
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 15 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 600
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-HNL-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N319FC
NTSB Number LAX01FA208
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-140
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28-25157
Certified Max Gross Weight 3000
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 24.8
Airframe Hours 9081.86
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jahn P. Mueller
Aircraft Owner Street Address Honolulu International Airport
Aircraft Owner City Honolulu
Aircraft Owner State HI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 96815
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Mueller Aviation
Operator Same as Owner? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code HNL
Departure City Honolulu
Departure State HI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2000
Departure Time Zone HST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code JHM
Destination City Kapalua, Maui
Destination State HI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 19 2004 12:01PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --