ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 45304
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| Date: | Saturday 25 January 2003 |
| Time: | 12:22 |
| Type: |  Cessna 172N Skyhawk |
| Owner/operator: | George's Aviation Services Inc |
| Registration: | N911FC |
| MSN: | 17271940 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1978 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 8763 hours |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Kalaupapa, HI -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Honolulu-Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, HI (HNL/PHNL) |
| Kahului Airport, HI (OGG/PHOG) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On January 25, 2003, at 1222 Hawaiian standard time, a single engine Cessna 172N airplane, N911FC, was destroyed when it impacted mountainous terrain while maneuvering approximately 5 miles east of the town of Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. The student pilot, who was the sole occupant, was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to a private individual and was operated by George's Aviation Service, Inc., of Honolulu, Hawaii. The solo instructional flight was being conducted under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The cross-country flight originated from the Honolulu International Airport (HNL), Honolulu, approximately 1140, and was destined for the Kahului Airport (OGG) on Maui Island, Hawaii. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed at the accident site at the time of the accident, and the student pilot had filed a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan for the flight.
The student pilot obtained an in-person weather briefing from the local flight service station (FSS) prior to departure for a solo cross-country flight between two islands. The printed weather information used to provide the briefing depicted visual flight rule (VFR) conditions throughout the planned route of flight. During the time the student was obtaining weather information and planning his flight, the flight instructor obtained a weather briefing from the FSS via telephone. Review of the recorded conversation between the weather briefer and the flight instructor revealed current and forecast weather conditions provided were above VFR weather minimums, and a recommendation discouraging VFR flight was not provided. The accident flight was the student's first solo cross-country. He had flown the same route of flight with his flight instructor 1 week prior to the accident. According to the flight instructor, the student planned to make the flight at 3,500 feet msl. The majority of the flight was to be over open ocean water along the north shore of an island with rugged mountainous terrain of elevations up to 4,961 feet msl. Review of radar data revealed the student pilot descended the airplane from 2,200 feet msl to as low as 1,000 feet msl as it traveled along the planned route. According to two military pilots, who were flying helicopters in the opposite direction along the same route and one of whom observed the accident airplane, the student was eventually going to encounter instrument meteorological conditions at the elevation he was flying. They reported the weather conditions as scattered clouds at 700 feet agl and broken clouds at 1,000 feet agl with precipitation and visibilities between 3 to 5 miles. Radar data depicted the airplane gaining altitude to about 1,500 feet msl before turning south toward higher terrain on the coast of the island. The wreckage was located at the 1,500-foot level of a steeply rising mountain. No preaccident anomalies were noted with the aircraft. According to the flight instructor, if her student could not see the next visual checkpoint during the cross-country flight, he was to turn around and return to the departure airport. Steep mountains separated the accident site from the closest weather reporting facility (11 miles away). The weather conditions at the reporting facility when the accident flight passed that location were a few clouds at 800 feet agl, scattered clouds at 2,400 feet agl, and broken clouds at 5,500 feet agl, with a visibility 10 miles.
Probable Cause: The student pilot's inadvertent VFR flight into IMC, which resulted in his in-flight collision with mountainous terrain while maneuvering. A contributing factor was the low ceiling weather condition.
Accident investigation:
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|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20030130X00132&key=1
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Oct-2008 00:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 08-Dec-2017 18:00 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Aug-2023 17:11 | Captain Adam | Updated [[Operator, Source, Narrative]] |
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