Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pacific Ocean New Zealand
Friday, December 26, 2003 9:10 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On December 26, 2003, at 0910 Pacific standard time, a Pacific Aerospace Corporation 750XL, New Zealand registry ZK-UAC, ditched in the Pacific ocean in international waters about 300 miles southwest of Monterey, California, near coordinates 35 degrees 28 minutes north by 118 degrees 10 minutes west. The ditching was precipitated by a loss of engine power following a report by the pilot of a problem transferring fuel. The airplane was owned and operated by Utility Aircraft Corporation, Woodland, California, under the pertinent provisions of the New Zealand Civil Aviation Regulations. The airplane sank and is presumed to be destroyed. The New Zealand Airline Transport licensed pilot, the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries and was not recovered. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an IFR flight plan was filed. The ferry flight departed Hilo, Hawaii, at an undetermined time en route to Oakland, California.
According to information provided by the US Federal Aviation Administration Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center, about 0545 the pilot reported that he was having a fuel transfer problem (he was not specific about the nature of the problem), and estimated that he had 2 hours of available fuel left with 4 hours of flight time remaining to reach the California coast. A US Coast Guard C-130 was dispatched at 0615 and joined up with the aircraft. After the aircraft ditched, the pilot was not observed exiting the partially submerged airplane. Para rescue divers were put into the water and they reportedly observed that the pilot was deceased and still strapped into his seat in the submerged cockpit. Due to the hazardous nature of the sea state, the divers could not recover the pilot's body.
The accident is under the jurisdiction of and is being investigated by the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority. Further information can be obtained from:
Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand
PO Box 31 441
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Telephone 64 4 569 2024
Web Site: www.caa.govt.nz
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/26/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 910 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Pacific Ocean |
| Event State | PACIFIC OCEAN |
| Event Country | NEW ZEALAND |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 352800N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1181000W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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 | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | Foreign |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 26 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 930 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 5:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Francisco IFO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | -- |
| NTSB Number | LAX04WA080 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Non-Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Pacific Aerospace Corp |
| Aircraft Model | 750XL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| 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? | -- |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | -- |
| Operator Street Address | PO Box 1235 |
| Operator City | Woodland |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95776 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ITO |
| Departure City | Hilo |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OAK |
| Destination City | Oakland |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 5:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |