Accident Overview
A private pilot departed on a cross-country personal flight with five passengers, en route to an Alaskan coastal community. The airplane carried about 140 gallons of usable fuel. The intended destination was approximately 757 nautical miles away, with a planned stop for fuel en route.
Flight Progression and Fuel Decisions
As the flight progressed, the pilot requested to continue to an alternate airport about 100 miles closer to the destination, then again changed the destination to the original intended airport. The pilot informed the ATC specialist of low fuel when about 22 miles southeast of the airport, stating fuel was below 5 gallons in both tanks. The pilot declined an alternate airport recommendation and elected to proceed.
Forced Landing and Evacuation
Shortly after, the pilot reported both engines out of fuel and selected a forced landing site in open ocean waters about 12 miles short of the destination. After impact, two surviving passengers reported that all occupants lost consciousness momentarily. When they regained consciousness, water was entering the airplane. Four of the six occupants, including the pilot, evacuated before the airplane sank. Two occupants remained inside.
Survival Efforts and Search
The four survivors swam toward the nearest shoreline, about 1 mile away. During the swim, two survivors became separated from the other two. As of the report, the two occupants who remained inside the airplane, as well as the pilot and one other occupant who had evacuated, have not been located. The two survivors were eventually recovered.
Probable Cause
According to the official finding, the probable cause was the pilot's inadequate in-flight decision making and failure to refuel before fuel exhaustion, resulting in total loss of engine power. A contributing factor was the lack of a suitable forced landing site.