1981 — Dec 5, Jump Hawaii Club Beechcraft C-45 Crash (pilot error), Honolulu, HI — 11

–11  AP. “11 die, 1 bails out…Hawaii plane crash.” The Register, Orange Co., CA, 12-7-1981, A2.

–11  NTSB. Special Investigation Report on the Safety of Parachute Jump Operations. 2008, 31.

 

Narrative Information

 

NTSB: “Honolulu, Hawaii (LAX82FA024). On December 5, 1981, a Beech C-45H, N8185H, entered a spin during a turn toward the jump area at altitude and crashed into water near Honolulu, Hawaii. The private pilot and 10 parachutists were killed. One parachutist, who was one of four parachutists who attempted to egress, survived but was seriously injured. The investigation found that the airplane was loaded to about 10 inches behind its aft cg limit.

 

“The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot’s failure to maintain flying speed and that factors contributing to the accident included the following: the pilot’s inadequate preflight planning/preparation, the pilot’s lack of qualifications to operate the airplane, and the improper loading of the airplane.” (NTSB. Special Investigation Report on the Safety of Parachute Jump Operations. 9-16-2008.)

 

Newspaper

 

Dec 7: “Honolulu (AP) — An airplane taking skydivers to a football game jump sputtered and spun into Pearl Harbor near the USS Arizona Memorial, officials said. At least 11 of the 12 people believed aboard were killed. One man who jumped from the plummeting plane was pulled alive from the harbor by three men who saw the plane go down Saturday…members of the Jump Hawaii sports parachutist club said 12 were aboard, a Navy spokesman said.. Club vice president Stephen Fischel identified three of those aboard the twin-engine Beechcraft as club president Byron Black and two of his sons, Danny Black, who was piloting the aircraft, and Bobby Black….

 

“The parachutists were scheduled to jump into nearby Aloha Stadium before the start of a football game between the University of Hawaii and the University of South Carolina.

 

“Nolin Brede, who helped pull Mike Salmons from the water, said he saw the plane coming down in a spin and its ‘motors were revved up real high’ when it hit. Salmons, 34, who was picked up about 25 yards from the wreckage and taken to a hospital with a broken leg, said the plane was on its final run to the stadium when it went out of control. ‘I decided I didn’t want to stay in there. The others decided to stay with the plane. It did all kinds of crazy stuff,’ said Salmons, who said he was sitting closest to the door. ‘I jumped and three others also jumped,’ he said in a telephone interview from his hospital bed, but those who followed him did not have enough altitude left to deploy their chutes. Just as he jumped, his leg was hit by the plan’e tail, causing a compound fracture. Despite the break, Salmons said he waded about 200 yards ‘to where the airplane was to see if I could help anyone.’ Those in the plane were already dead, he said.

 

“One football fan who saw the fatal plunge said the plane ‘began to sputter and started twisting down and then it disappeared….” (Associated Press. “11 die, 1 bails out, in Hawaii plane crash.” The Register, Orange County, CA, 12-7-1981, p. A2.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “11 die, 1 bails out, in Hawaii plane crash.” The Register, Orange County, CA, 12-7-1981, p. A2. Accessed 5-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/santa-ana-orange-county-register-dec-07-1981-p-2/?tag

 

National Transportation Safety Board. Special Investigation Report on the Safety of Parachute Jump Operations (NTSB/SIR-08/01). Washington, DC: NTSB, Adopted 9-16-2008, 64 pages. Accessed 2-22-2016 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-studies/Documents/SIR0801.pdf