WAILUKU, Maui — Pilot error was the likely cause of a fatal airplane crash on Molokai, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
Pilot Bill Vogt’s decision to fly under visual flight rules into an area of clouds and rain that required instrument flight was the probable cause of the December 2017 accident, The Maui News reported Wednesday.
Vogt, 78, and his 74-year-old wife Lynn, were killed when the single-engine Textron Aviation aircraft crashed into remote mountainous terrain more than 3 miles southwest of the Molokai Airport, the federal agency said.
The plane was at an elevation of about 1,300 feet at the time of the crash, the report said.
There was no evidence suggesting Vogt, who was instrument rated, obtained a weather briefing before departing Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport around 10:30 a.m., the NTSB said.
Vogt requested an instrument approach to Molokai Airport while also noting he was “right on the edge” of visual flight and had “pretty good visibility,” the report said.
Vogt’s instrument flying experience could not be determined. The flight instructor who conducted his most recent flight review, about eight months before the crash, did not endorse Vogt for instrument flight, the report said.
The plane was destroyed by fire, but an examination of the frame and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical problems, the NTSB said.
An autopsy indicated the pilot had severe heart disease, which would have put him at risk of chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath and fainting, the agency said. But the report said it was unlikely symptoms from Vogt’s heart disease contributed to the crash.
Vogt’s communications with the air traffic controller and flight track information indicate “he was actively maneuvering the airplane,” likely to avoid clouds, and attempting to “remain in visual conditions” before the crash.