Incident Overview

Date: Saturday 12 April 1997
Aircraft Type: de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
Owner/operator: Corporate Air
Registration Number: N242CA
Location: 117 km NE off Hilo, HI, USA – ÿ Pacific Ocean
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Component Affected: Aircraft fuel tanks and fuel management systems.Aircraft fuel tanks and fuel management systems.
Category: Accident
A Twin Otter aircraft, departing Oakland at 10:50 PST for a ferry flight to Honolulu, experienced a sudden and unexpected fuel depletion event. The pilot, recognizing a deteriorating fuel duration versus time-to-go situation, initiated a low fuel emergency, altering the destination to Hilo, HI, and requesting Coast Guard assistance. Ultimately, the aircraft elected to ditch under power to conserve fuel.A Twin Otter aircraft, departing Oakland at 10:50 PST for a ferry flight to Honolulu, experienced a sudden and unexpected fuel depletion event. The pilot, recognizing a deteriorating fuel duration versus time-to-go situation, initiated a low fuel emergency, altering the destination to Hilo, HI, and requesting Coast Guard assistance. Ultimately, the aircraft elected to ditch under power to conserve fuel.

Description

The Twin Otter aircraft departed Oakland at 10:50 PST for a ferry flight to Honolulu. For this flight the aircraft had been equipped with four ferry fuel tanks in addition to the normal forward and aft internal aircraft tanks. The pilot stated that at 18:00 PST (7 hours and 10 minutes into the flight), the estimated time to fuel depletion was found to be 8 hours and 40 minutes, with a time to go to destination of 7 hours and 40 minutes. Three hours later, the pilot determined that he was fuel critical due to unforecast headwinds. He declared a low fuel emergency and changed his intended destination to Hilo, HI. He also requested Coast Guard assistance at that time. Approximately 4 hours later, the pilot elected to ditch under power rather than remain airborne until fuel depletion. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The pilot’s inadequate en route fuel consumption calculations, which led to his failure to recognize a deteriorating fuel duration versus time-to-go situation in a more timely way”

Primary Cause

Inadequate en route fuel consumption calculations leading to delayed recognition of a deteriorating fuel duration versus time-to-go situation.Inadequate en route fuel consumption calculations leading to delayed recognition of a deteriorating fuel duration versus time-to-go situation.

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