Accident description
Last updated: 20 June 2013
| Status: | Final |
| Date: | 17 DEC 2011 |
| Time: | ca 12:30 |
| Type: |  Cessna 208 Caravan I |
| Operating for: | Skydive Mesquite |
| Leased from: | Spokane Turbine Skydiving |
| Registration: | N275PM |
| C/n / msn: | 208-00119 |
| First flight: | 1987 |
| Engines: | 1 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Airplane damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Mesquite Airport, NV (MFH) (United States of America)
 |
| Phase: | Landing (LDG) |
| Nature: | Parachuting |
| Departure airport: | Mesquite Airport, NV (MFH), United States of America |
| Mesquite Airport, NV (MFH), United States of America |
A Cessna 208 Caravan I skydiving plane, operated by Skydive Mesquite, crashed at Mesquite Airport. Both the pilot and a single passenger survived the accident with minor injuries.
Prior to the flight, the pilot fueled the airplane with 16 gallons of jet fuel. He planned on making two local flights carrying skydivers aloft. During the second skydiving flight he delayed releasing the skydivers due to traffic in the area. As he turned the plane back towards the drop zone the airplane's engine experienced a total loss of power. The pilot signalled the skydivers to exit the airplane, feathered the propeller, and executed an attempted forced landing to the runway. The airplane landed long, went off the end of the runway, across Kitty Hawk Drive, and slid down a slope into the Canyons Golf Course before stopping on its belly at the 17th hole. The pilot stated that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight. He also stated that the cause of the loss of engine power was poor fuel management and fuel exhaustion.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The pilot's improper preflight planning, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion." Events:
Sources:
» NTSB
» Mesquite Skydive plane crashes at golf course (KNTV, 17-12-2011)
Photos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Mesquite Airport, NV to Mesquite Airport, NV as the crow flies is 0 km (0 miles).
Distance from Mesquite Airport, NV to Mesquite Airport, NV as the crow flies is 0 km (0 miles).
