Date:	Saturday 17 December 2011
Time:	12:30
Type:	Cessna 208 Caravan I
Owner/operator:	Skydive Mesquite
Registration:	N275PM
MSN:	20800119
Year of manufacture:	1987
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Substantial, repaired
Category:	Accident
Location:	Mesquite Airport, NV (MFH) -   United States of America
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Parachuting
Departure airport:	Mesquite Airport, NV (MFH)
Destination airport:	Mesquite Airport, NV (MFH)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A Cessna 208 Caravan I skydiving plane, operated by Skydive Mesquite, crashed at Mesquite Airport. Both the pilot and a single passenger survived the accident with minor injuries.
Prior to the flight, the pilot fueled the airplane with 16 gallons of jet fuel. He planned on making two local flights carrying skydivers aloft. During the second skydiving flight he delayed releasing the skydivers due to traffic in the area. As he turned the plane back towards the drop zone the airplane's engine experienced a total loss of power. The pilot signalled the skydivers to exit the airplane, feathered the propeller, and executed an attempted forced landing to the runway. The airplane landed long, went off the end of the runway, across Kitty Hawk Drive, and slid down a slope into the Canyons Golf Course before stopping on its belly at the 17th hole. The pilot stated that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight. He also stated that the cause of the loss of engine power was poor fuel management and fuel exhaustion.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The pilot's improper preflight planning, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion."

NTSB
Mesquite Skydive plane crashes at golf course (KNTV, 17-12-2011)

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