Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Station Townshi American Samoa
Monday, August 30, 2004 12:10
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 30, 2004, approximately 1210 Western Standard Time (Australia), a Swiss-registered Cessna 421, HB-LRW, impacted the terrain during the initial climbout after takeoff from El Questro Station Airport, Station Township, Kimberly Region, Australia. The pilot of the aircraft and his passenger received fatal injuries, and the aircraft, which reportedly was owned and operated by the pilot, was destroyed by the impact and a post-crash fire. The takeoff for the personal pleasure flight, to an as yet undetermined destination, was taking place in visual meteorological conditions. At the time the accident information was forwarded to the NTSB, it had not yet been determined if the pilot had filed a flight plan.
The Australian Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary notification of the accident, wherein it was reported that the aircraft crashed during the takeoff sequence from the aforementioned airstrip. Information derived from an Australian independent on-line newsletter indicated that witnesses said that during the initial climb after takeoff, the aircraft appeared to have a problem with its left engine, and then banked sharply and descended into the terrain. Almost immediately after impact the aircraft exploded, and was ultimately almost totally consumed by fire.
This report is for informational purposes only. The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Australia, and any further information pertaining to this accident should be obtained from:
Bureau of Air Safety Investigation
Mr. Ian Brokenshire
P.O. Box 967, Civic Square
Canberra A. C. T. 2608
Australia
Telephone (61-6) 274-6431
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/30/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Station Townshi |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | AMERICAN SAMOA |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 160000S |
| Event Location Longitude | 1280000E |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | Foreign |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | Australian Tranportation Safet |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 30 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 9 2004 11:42AM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | -- |
| NTSB Number | SEA04WA177 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Non-Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 421 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Station Townshi |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | AS |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | BST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | unknown |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 9 2004 11:42AM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |