Piper PA-34-200T N101YK

Summary

On 15 December 2002 at about 23:05 local time, a Piper PA-34-200T registered N101YK was involved in an accident near Pacific Ocean. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

15 December 2002 at 23:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Pacific Ocean

Coordinates

37.6342, -130.0693

Aircraft

Piper PA-34-200T

Registration

N101YK

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Ferry

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Honolulu → Majuro

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX03FAMS1

1 person died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The twin engine airplane never arrived at its intended destination following a ferry flight over the Pacific Ocean and is presumed destroyed. The commercial pilot is presumed to have sustained fatal injuries. The pilot intended on flying the airplane from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Tinian Island in the Northern Mariana Islands, and planned on stopping to Majuro Island in the Marshall Islands to refuel. Supplemental fuel tanks were added to the aircraft's pre-existing fuel system providing a total of 373 gallons of aviation gasoline. The pilot calculated he had approximately 15 hours of endurance, and estimated the flight would take 12.5 hours. According to air traffic control (ATC) summaries and transcripts, the pilot was having trouble communicating with his high frequency (HF) radio. He relayed his last position to ATC via another aircraft and requested a climb to 10,000 feet msl. He relayed to ATC his level off at 10,000 feet, which was the last radio transmission received. A weather study conducted for the pilot's route of flight did not indicate that severe weather scenarios existed. The airplane was ferried from the U.S. mainland to Honolulu a few weeks prior to the accident, and no anomalies with the airplane were reported. The ferry tank installation in the aircraft cabin partially blocked the single right side cabin door. In the event the pilot did have to ditch the airplane in the ocean, it is questionable as to whether he would have been able to exit the airplane with his survival equipment in an expeditious manner.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.