- Date
- July 14, 1991, 19:20 local (Jul 15, 1991, 05:20 UTC)
- Place
- Kahului, HI
- Injuries
- 6 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N260ACRockwell 500S
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 23, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910714027129A
- Case key
- 27291
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection of the aircraft after refueling. The failure of the aircraft manufacturer to publish the refueling instructions in the operator's manual, the inadequate fuel servicing of the aircraft by other maintenance personnel and the failure of both engines from fuel exhaustion were factors in the accident.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
After filling the aircraft fuel tanks with 52.1 gallons of aviaiton gas that overflowed the filler neck, the pilot assumed the tanks were full to their 156 gallon capacity, that should provide 5.2 hours of operation. After operating the aircraft for 3.3 hours both engines failed from fuel exhaustion and the pilot made a forced landing in the ocean.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N260AC
- Reported as
- Rockwell 500S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 3085
- Airframe hours
- 2,896
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-E1B5, 225 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James W. Mayes
- Registered owner
- James W. Mayes
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 1, 1990 · 77 hours before
- Departed
- MUE · Kamuela, HI
- Destination
- HNL · Honolulu, HI
- Flight plan
- VFR
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 871 total · 50 in this make and model · 659 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 16 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- OGG, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.