Accident Piper PA-44-180 Seminole VH-CZE,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 1031
 
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Date:Friday 9 June 2006
Time:01:45 UTC
Type:Silhouette image of generic PA44 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Piper PA-44-180 Seminole
Owner/operator:Airflite Pty Ltd
Registration: VH-CZE
MSN: 4496212
Year of manufacture:2005
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:Sea 980 km NE of Hilo, Hawaii, HI -   Pacific Ocean
Phase: En route
Nature:Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, CA (SBA/KSBA)
Destination airport:Hilo International Airport, HI (ITO/PHTO)
Investigating agency: ATSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
At 1323 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) (0623 US Pacific Daylight Saving Time), on 9 June 2006, a Piper PA-44-180 Seminole aircraft, registered VH-CZE, departed Santa Barbara, California, USA, for Hilo, Hawaii. The aircraft was one of two Seminoles that were being ferried in-company to Australia under the instrument flight rules. At about 2050 UTC, the pilot in command advised US Air Traffic Services that the left engine had failed and that the aircraft would have to be ditched as the aircraft was 7 hrs from Hilo but only had 5 hrs of fuel endurance remaining. At about 0145 UTC, the aircraft ditched into International Waters, in the Pacific Ocean, at 25 degrees 3.0 minutes north latitude and 147 degrees 26 minutes west longitude, 980 Km North East of Hilo, Hawaii

The pilot and co-pilot exited the aircraft uninjured and were rescued by a nearby ship. The aircraft sank and was not recovered.

The pilot reported that more fuel was being drawn from the ferry fuel tank than was expected. In addition, a 5 cm x 1 cm scorch mark could be seen just above the landing gear observation mirror on the left inboard engine cowl. Following discussions with the pilot of the accompanying Seminole, the pilot decided to shut down the left engine. Prior to ditching, the pilot restarted the left engine to prevent an asymmetric situation on touchdown.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: ATSB
Report number: 
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

1. http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2006/AAIR/aair200603333.aspx
2. https://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20060727X01038
3. http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/1361850/aair200603333_001.pdf
4. http://aircrashed.com/accident/LAX06WA202.shtml

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
26-Jan-2008 23:06 Andrew Whitton Added
15-Apr-2014 18:22 Dr. John Smith Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
09-Jun-2023 15:22 Ron Averes Updated [[Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

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