Cessna 177 N306DJ

Summary

On 14 July 2002 at about 02:11 local time, a Cessna 177 registered N306DJ was involved in an accident near Hana, Hawaii, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

14 July 2002 at 02:11

Classification

Accident

Location

Hana, Hawaii, United States

Coordinates

20.7869, -156.1214

Aircraft

Cessna 177

Registration

N306DJ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Kahului → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX02FA227

4 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering, which resulted in a stall.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane crashed into a densely forested grove of Eucalyptus trees, in a near vertical nose down attitude. There were no witnesses to the accident. Family members indicated that the flight was to be a tour of the northeast coasts of the Molokai and Maui islands. The flight was to return by 1700 for a family function. The pilot also intended to view some recently purchased property near the accident site. An aerial survey of the accident site revealed no damage to the surrounding treetops in the Eucalyptus grove. The fuselage was uniformly crushed from the nose past the aft bulkhead area. Measured crush lines located on the fuselage near the doorframe and right main landing gear strut, and the top portion of the doorframe/fuselage spar area, revealed an 80-degree crush angle to the longitudinal axis of the airplane. Adjacent to the left wing was a large Eucalyptus tree. Multiple sections of tree bark had separated from the tree starting at a height of about 75 feet and culminating at the base of the tree. The left wing had a semicircular impact mark about midspan of the wing, with a brown color transfer similar to the Eucalyptus tree. The leading edge of the wing also had a small tree limb embedded in the impacted area of the left wing. The engine was buried about 12 inches into the ground at a near vertical angle. No discrepancies were found with either the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.