Flight History
The aircraft departed Port Vila International Airport at 1229 local time with 6 passengers bound for Tanna, 217 km to the south-south-east. After landing at Tanna, the pilot continued another 106 km south-south-east to Mystery Island, Aneityum, arriving at 1402. Four passengers boarded there, and the aircraft departed Aneityum at 1412, destined for Port Vila.
Fuel Quantity Discrepancy
Approximately 130 km from Port Vila, the pilot observed that the fuel quantity gauges indicated significantly less fuel remaining than expected. Despite this, the pilot elected to continue the flight over water toward Port Vila. About 24 km from the runway, the right engine surged and subsequently stopped producing power.
Emergency Communications and Attempted Landing
Approximately three minutes later, the pilot advised air traffic control that they were 15 km from the airport at 4,000 ft. The controller responded with clearance to land on runway 29. No engine noise was detected in that transmission. Four minutes after that, the pilot declared a MAYDAY and advised the controller that they were 9 km from the runway at 1,500 ft and attempting to land at the airport. During that transmission, one engine surged briefly and then stopped. The pilot then radioed that they were losing altitude and would be landing in a farm.
Collision and Impact
The aircraft collided with two coconut trees before impacting the ground. One passenger was fatally injured, two passengers sustained serious injuries, and the pilot and one passenger sustained minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined the probable cause to be double engine failure in flight caused by fuel starvation. The investigation identified several contributing factors, including the pilot's failure to ensure sufficient fuel for the planned flight, the decision to continue to Port Vila instead of diverting, the lack of mixture leaning or fuel transfer from auxiliary tanks (one of which still contained usable fuel), failure to feather propellers or maintain optimal airspeed after engine stoppage, a misunderstanding of engine run-in requirements by the chief pilot, high operational tempo and lack of crew workload management, a forced landing with tailwind and without flap extension to reduce impact forces, and the use of lap belts only on passenger seats without upper torso restraints.