Air ambulance that crashed near Maui was off course, NTSB prelim says

The NTSB has released the preliminary report for the Dec. 15, 2022 crash of a C90 Beechcraft King Air operated by Hawaii Life Flight (N13GZ). The plane lost contact with the coast guard that evening at an altitude of 5,000 feet when it was 15 nautical miles from the island. The communication with the pilot indicates he was off course when the plane crashed. 

Experts told Hawaii News Now that the pilot was disoriented on a stormy, moonless night. 

The medical transport plane departed Kahului Airport (OGG) on the island of Maui, Hawaii on an IFR flight plan, destined for the Waimea-Kohala Airport (MUE) to pick up a patient for transport to Honolulu, Hawaii. A preliminary review of voice communication from the FAA showed that shortly after takeoff the pilot had contacted the departure ATC specialist, telling them the flight was at 1,000 ft mean sea level (MSL) and climbing to 11,000 ft MSL.

The NTSB reported the communication between the pilot and ATC specialist as the plane ascended to 13,000 MSL. The ATC specialist instructed the pilot to contact the Honolulu Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) who continued communication with the pilot. The ARTCC specialist instructed the pilot to fly a heading of 180 degrees, and he cleared the flight to fly direct to Tammi, “the initial approach fix for the RNAV (GPS) 4 approach to MUE, and the pilot acknowledged the instructions.”

The ARTCC specialist asked the pilot to verify he was flying as instructed to which the pilot replied, “uhh, 13GZ is off navigation here… we’re gonna… we’re gonna give it a try.”

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Coast Guard calls off search for air ambulance crash near Maui

The ARTCC specialist gave him further instruction to turn right to a 170-degree heading and maintain 8,000 feet MSL. The final radio transmission believed to be from the pilot can be heard saying “hang on,” and was the last communication with the accident flight.

The plane was equipped with ADS-B data and stopped near where a witness observed the plane impact the water. The witness was flying a low-wing Piper PA-44 from Hilo, Hawaii to Honolulu and saw the accident airplane above and to the north of his flight path. The witness watched the lights of the plane and noted that as the plane was continuing southbound it made a right turn and entered a spiraling right descending turn. He watched the plane descend and impact the water, then he lost sight of the plane lights.

An alert was issued by the FAA and an extensive search began. The coast guard aircraft and boats searched the area and found parts of airplane wreckage. The plane and occupants were not located and the search was called off on Dec. 19, 2022.

The NTSB said dark night conditions prevailed at the time of the crash. Visibility was ten miles and the lowest cloud conditions were clear.

The NTSB reported that the airplane wreckage likely sank into the open waters in the Maui Channel, with an estimated water depth of 6,000 feet. The report stated deep water search and recovery efforts are pending.