Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Maui, Hawaii 96793
Sunday, November 16, 2003 21:15 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine lost power during cruise over the ocean, and the pilot ditched the airplane. The airplane was at 12,000 feet mean sea level (msl) when the engine began to experience variations of 100 rpm. The variations smoothed when the pilot adjusted the mixture, and he initially thought the variations were due to carburetor icing. After a few minutes, the conditions worsened and he turned the airplane toward an island located approximately 175 nm away. The oil pressure decreased to about 40 psi. The pilot announced a "MAYDAY" call when he realized that the oil pressure was still decreasing. The pilot began a low-powered descent, and began pumping oil into the engine using a hand pump that he had installed prior to the flight. The oil pressure decreased to 5 to 10 psi. When the airplane was at 4,000 feet msl, about 90 nm northeast of Kahalui, the engine seized. The pilot then ditched the airplane in the ocean, and the U.S. Coast Guard rescued him several hours later. Part of the airframe and the engine washed ashore on a beach about 30 days after the accident. Inspection of the remaining parts of the engine disclosed no definitive evidence of what precipitated the loss of engine power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power during cruise flight for an undetermined reason, which resulted in an emergency descent and ditching.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/16/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2115 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | Maui |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96793 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 210000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1550000W |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16990 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 16 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-HNL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N534S |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA046 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Suminski |
| Aircraft Model | Cozy Long Ez |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 177 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1886 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kateri T. Swears |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 94-138 Makapipipi St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | MILILANI |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96789-27 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | William B. Swears |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PHHN |
| Departure City | Honolulu |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1751 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KDVO |
| Destination City | Novato |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 4:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | LABJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |