Cessna 182 N2007X

Summary

On 23 May 2016 at about 19:22 local time, a Cessna 182 registered N2007X, operated by D & J Air Adventures Inc, was involved in an accident near Hanapepe, Hawaii, United States. 5 people were on board and 5 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 May 2016 at 19:22

Classification

Accident

Location

Hanapepe, Hawaii, United States

Nearest airport

Port Allen (PAK)

Coordinates

21.8958, -159.5997

Aircraft

Cessna 182

Registration

N2007X

Category

Airplane

Year built

1965

Engines

1

Operator

D & J Air Adventures Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Skydiving

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hanapepe → Hanapepe

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR16FA116

5 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed following a partial loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined during postaccident examination, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and experiencing an aerodynamic stall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot and four passenger-skydivers were departing in the airplane on a local area skydiving flight in visual meteorological conditions. Witnesses observed the airplane make a normal takeoff from the runway. Two witnesses reported that, shortly after takeoff, the engine seemed to stop producing power. Subsequently, the airplane rolled to the right while rapidly losing altitude. The airplane completed about a 360° rotation and impacted terrain in a nose-down attitude. One of the four cameras recovered from the wreckage contained a 33-second video that captured the flight from the takeoff roll through the impact. The video showed the airplane after takeoff in a positive climb and a slight left roll. About 24 seconds into the recording, the video's audio track revealed a reduction in the volume of the engine sound. Two seconds later, the airplane started to roll to the right. The movement of the camera became increasingly erratic, consistent with the airplane entering an unusual flight attitude. The engine sound continued to decrease until the airplane impacted the ground. A sound spectrum study showed that the engine rpm decreased from 2,650 to 1,215 over the final 9 seconds of the flight, consistent with a partial loss of engine power. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical failures or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane was estimated to be about 10 lbs above its maximum gross weight and within the center-of-gravity limits published for the maximum gross weight; therefore, weight and balance was likely not a factor in the accident. The weather conditions at the time of takeoff were conductive to the formation of carburetor ice at glide power. Given that the airplane was operating at a high power setting at the time of takeoff, carburetor icing was unlikely. Based on the witness observations and the onboard video recording, it is likely that the pilot failed to maintain airspeed following a partial loss of engine power, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and experiencing an aerodynamic stall. The reason for the partial loss of engine power could not be determined.  

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.