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LAX89FA307

1989-09-10 · KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport KOA

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE, AND OPERATION BY THE PILOT WITH KNOWN DEFICIENCIES IN THE AIRCRAFT. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: EXCESSIVE WEAR IN BOTH ENGINES, IMPROPER USE OF POWERPLANT CONTROLS BY THE PILOT, SUBSEQUENT OVERTEMPERATURE/DETONATION IN BOTH ENGINES, IMPROPER EMERGENCY PROCEDURES BY THE PILOT (INCLUDING PREMATURE GEAR EXTENSION AND/OR FAILURE TO PROPERLY REDUCE DRAG ON THE AIRCRAFT AFTER LOSS OF ENGINE POWER), AND THE PILOT'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN MULTI-ENGINE AND THIS MAKE AND MODEL OF AIRCRAFT.

Factual narrative

AS THE ACFT WAS DEPG FM RWY 17, SMOKE WAS OBSERVED COMING FM THE RGT ENG. THE PLT CONFIRMED A LOSS OF PWR & MADE A RGT TURN BACK TOWARD THE RWY, THEN RPRTD HE HAD 'LOST BOTH ENGINES.' THE ACFT WAS EXTENSIVELY DMGD DURING A LNDG ON ROUGH, ROCKY TRRN ABT 1/4 MI SW OF THE RWY THRESHOLD. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE ACFT HAD JUST CHANGED OWNERSHIP. DURING PRE- PURCHASE INSPN IN FLORIDA, METAL PARTICLES WERE FND IN THE OIL SCREENS OF BOTH ENGS. OIL WAS CHGD & FLUSHED, BUT METAL PARTICLES WERE FND AFTER ANOTHER ENG RUN. IN MAY 1989, THE RGT ENG WAS REPLACED WITH AN ENG FM ANOTHER ACFT. THE ACFT WAS FLOWN TO OAKLAND, CA, WHERE IT WAS PAINTED & NEW INTERIOR WAS INSTALLED. A LCL MECH NOTED METAL PARTICLES IN BOTH ENG OIL SCREENS & RCMNDD OIL ANALYSIS, BUT FERRYING PLT REFUSED. AFTER FLT TO HAWAII, NO OIL STAIN NOTED ON FUSELAGE BFRFLT ON 9/9/89. EXAM OF WRECKAGE REVEALED BOTH ENGS FAILED FM DETONATION. HVY OIL STREAKS FND BHND RGT ENG, SOME STREAKS OF OIL FND BHND LEFT ENG. RGT ENG CRANKSHAFT/ROD BRG SURFACE WAS 0.010' UNDER STANDARD, BUT ROD BRGS WERE STANDARD SIZE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_LAX89FA307.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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