Cessna 310 crash: Belgian pilot killed

Join this forum to discuss the latest news that happened in the world of commercial aviation.

Moderator: Latest news team

Post Reply
LX-LGX
Posts: 2004
Joined: 20 Jan 2004, 00:00
Location: ANR

Cessna 310 crash: Belgian pilot killed

Post by LX-LGX »

Ward Mareels, a Belgian born US citizen and ex United pilot, was instantly killed last Sunday (17th October 2004) when his Cessna 310K twin engine crashed in Hawai.

I feel sorry for those of you who have known him. His parents live in Dilsen-Stokkem (Belgium).


Full story (including photo's) in English: http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=2331

In Dutch: http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Nieuws/Detail. ... GS&cat=REG

As the story could go offline at Mauinews.com, I've copied it:

A quiet, moonless night in a hilly pasture of Ulupalakua was shattered Sunday night when a small plane crashed into a hillside, killing the pilot. “I heard this airplane flying over, I look up. It went by, then all of a sudden – boom,” said Glen Davis, who was outside a house off Thompson Road. “There were flames as high as this big tree.” The twin-engine plane was heading to Kona when it crashed shortly before 9:30 p.m. Sunday at the 3,700-foot elevation of Haleakala, officials said on Monday. An Oahu man was alone in the Cessna 310K that erupted into flames in an area about a half-mile above Kamaole Road, which is off Thompson Road. The pilot was identified as Ward M. Mareels, owner of WardAir Aviation Inc., based in Kailua, Oahu. Although they had a tentative identification on the pilot, police said they were working to confirm the man’s identity through fingerprints or other means. Mareels’ wife traveled to Maui on Monday to help identify the pilot. An autopsy was conducted Monday afternoon on the victim, who suffered multiple traumatic injuries. He was ejected from the aircraft, by as much as 40 feet, an official said. A number of area residents said they heard an explosion and saw flames but didn’t realize that a plane had crashed. Davis said he heard a firetruck and police cars, as well as a helicopter hovering in the area through the night and continuing Monday morning. Eric Ventura, who was born and raised in the area, said the weather was pleasant when he, Davis and other friends had a cookout Sunday afternoon. “Everybody went home, it was just real still,” Ventura said. “It was nice, not much wind.” He was inside his room and didn’t learn about the crash until Davis told him. While tour helicopters sometimes land nearby, Ventura said it was rare to see a plane flying over the area so late at night. “Over here is real peaceful and quiet,” he said. Ceci Cleary said the location of the plane crash was directly above her house on Kamaole Road. She didn’t hear the impact but noticed the bright fire when she went to turn off her house lights Sunday night. “It looked like a big bonfire, like a cane fire,” she said. “I heard noises. It sounded more like fireworks.” She learned that a plane had crashed after hearing the news Monday morning. “It is very strange for a plane to be flying that time of night,” she said. Police closed off Kamaole Road at the old Thompson Ranch, which recently was sold to television talk show host Oprah Winfrey. The crash site, which was beyond the end of the road, was either on or near Winfrey’s property, neighbors said. Federal Aviation Administration spokes-man Donn Walker said the pilot took off from Kahului Airport at 9:18 p.m. He was alone and en route to Kona. At 9:24 p.m., air traffic controllers lost radar contact with the aircraft, he said, adding that that doesn’t necessarily mean that was exactly the time the crash occurred. After receiving calls about an explosion at 9:27 p.m., Kula firefighters responded along with the Maui Fire Department’s Air One rescue helicopter, which found the wreckage at 10:06 p.m., said Assistant Fire Chief Alan Cordeiro. The Cessna 310K twin-engine plane was built in 1966 and owned by WardAir Aviation Inc. The owner of the company, Mareels, was a native of Belgium who became a U.S. citizen and had lived in Hawaii for more than 10 years, friends said. He was a former United Airlines pilot with more than 20,000 hours of flying time. Friend Mike Swigart called Mareels “a much-better-than-average pilot.” “He had been a pilot and a mechanic in Belgium before he moved to the United States, and he did a lot of flight training for some of the major airlines,” Swigart said. Mareels also was a midwife, according to the Midwives Alliance of Hawaii’s Web site. Walker said the 38-year-old aircraft would not be considered unsafe because of its age alone. The safety of an aircraft “really all depends on how well the plane was built and how well maintained,” he said. The FAA does not keep maintenance records on aircraft, he said. That’s the responsibility of the aircraft owner. A National Transportation Safety Board investigator was due to arrive on Maui today to begin a probe into the crash.

SN30952
Posts: 7128
Joined: 31 Jul 2003, 00:00

Here is more thanks to Maui News

Post by SN30952 »

Here is more thanks to Maui News

Small plane crashes above Kula; details are sketchy

ULUPALAKUA – A light plane crashed into the side of Haleakala late Sunday night, aviation and police officials reported.

It was not immediately clear how many people were aboard, or whether there were confirmed fatalities.

Jerry Johnston, regional operations officer with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Los Angeles office, said the plane was a fixed-wing, multiengine Cessna. The tail number reported by the FAA was registered to WardAir Aviation Inc. of Kailua, Oahu. It took off from Kahului Airport at 9:18 p.m., the FAA said.

Maui Police Chief Tom Phillips said police and fire crews were en route to the scene.

The crash occurred at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Shortly afterward, emergency dispatchers reported being flooded with calls about a “huge explosion” and flames in the Keokea-Ulupalakua area.

Firefighters responded to the scene where flames could be seen in the area of the old Thompson Ranch and Kamaole Road in Polipoli. The crash apparently ignited a brush fire, and officials from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources were dispatched to the scene.

Rescuers had difficulty reaching the area, but at about 10 p.m., the scene was found and a plane crash was confirmed. At least one body was found, according to radio dispatches, but there was no official confirmation of that late Sunday.

The Fire Department’s Air One helicopter was called in to assist, and the scene was reported “secured” at about 10:35 p.m.

Small plane crashes above Kula; details are sketchy

NTSB investigator here for Ulupalakua crash

ULUPALAKUA – A National Transportation Safety Board investigator arrived on Maui Tuesday to begin a probe into the fatal crash of a twin-engine plane in an Ulupalakua pasture Sunday night.

Police tentatively identified the victim as 54-year-old Ward Mareels of Kailua, Oahu.

He was the pilot of the Cessna 310K that erupted into flames at the 3,700-foot elevation of Haleakala in an area about a half-mile above Kamaole Road, which rises steeply off Thompson Road.

The plane, owned by Mareels’ company, WardAir Aviation Inc., had left Kahului Airport at 9:18 p.m. and was headed for Kona, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Wailuku patrol officers and fire crews responded after police received numerous calls reporting a large explosion in the Keokea area at 9:26 p.m. Sunday.

Kula firefighters located a fire in the pasture at 9:43 p.m. and hiked to the area inaccessible to vehicles.

The Fire Department’s Air One helicopter determined that a small plane had crashed. Mareels’ body was recovered in an area away from the aircraft.

Dr. Anthony Manoukian, Maui County coroner’s physician, said preliminary results of an autopsy done Monday showed the victim suffered multiple severe traumatic injuries that were “consistent with him being killed on impact.”

SN30952
Posts: 7128
Joined: 31 Jul 2003, 00:00

Post by SN30952 »

Federal investigators arrived on Maui Tuesday to begin looking into a fatal plane crash on the western slope of Haleakala.

Authorities say an official with the National Transportation Safety Board was at the site looking for clues into what caused the crash of the twin-engine Cessna 310 Sunday night.

The plane crashed in a remote pasture at about the 37-hundred-foot level of Haleakala.

The pilot, who was thrown from the wreckage, was identified as Ward Mareels, owner of Wardair Aviation of Kailua.

The Maui County medical examiner says the pilot had extensive injuries and likely died on impact.
Image
Image
Image

add one map:
Image

SN30952
Posts: 7128
Joined: 31 Jul 2003, 00:00

What kind of business Mareels was operating with the aircra

Post by SN30952 »

Federal aviation investigators have released a preliminary report that says there were no obvious engine defects in the small plane.
:!: The NTSB could take a year or longer to issue its final report on a the probable cause of the crash.
The autopsy reveals Ward Mareels was very much alive when he slammed into hillside, on land owned by Oprah Winfrey.
An investigation into a fatal air crash on the slopes of Haleakala at Keokea will focus on the pilot, an Oahu man who operated a flight company out of Honolulu, a federal investigator said.
The aircraft was destroyed by a fire, and Mareels’ body was found outside but without burns, according to the Maui County medical examiner, Dr. Anthony Manoukian. Manoukian said Mareels died of multiple, severe traumatic injuries that are “consistent with him being killed on impact.”
What authorities do know is that Mareels was alive when he crashed and did not suffer a heart attack.
"He had fractures of his wrists, his forearms and in particular, his ankles which would be consistent with him having his hands and feet on the controls of the aircraft at the time of impact," said Dr. Tony Manoukian, the Maui Medical Examiner.
The body of the veteran pilot was found several feet from his plane which erupted into flames.
And because Mareels had no insurance on his plane, authorities say the responsibility of removing the wreckage falls on his family.

And with any plane crash, investigators are looking at whether alcohol or drugs played a role but it'll take a few weeks for toxicology results.
Mareels is survived by a wife and a young son.

Mareels, a flight instructor, was flying his airplane by visual flight rules and not using navigational instruments during his trip. Shortly before the crash, Mareels notified the Federal Aviation Administration control tower that he was leaving the 3,000-foot level and increasing his altitude. He did not indicate he had any problems.

A friend on Oahu described Mareels as an experienced pilot who formerly had flown with United Airlines and had more than 20,000 hours of flight time on his record. Mareels was from Belgium and was a mechanic and pilot before he moved to the United States.

The crash has caused questions to be raised over what kind of business Mareels was operating with the aircraft and whether his company complied with Federal Aviation Administration rules.
“That would certainly be investigated by the FAA,” an FAA spokesman said . But the spokesman, Donn Walker with the Los Angeles Regional Office, said any allegations about Mareels’ operations “would be part of the investigation but would be secondary to the accident investigation.”

“It would be an enforcement issue, which is the responsibility of the FAA,” Cornejo, investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. said. “It has nothing to do with the accident and would not be a part of my investigation.”

Mrs Cornejo who examined the plane wreckage at the crash scene said it was operating normally. Her report said both propellor blades exhibited chordwise scratches, S-bending and other damage that would indicate they were rotating when they impacted the ground.

Investigators don't know if it was pilot error. "Too soon to say," said Cornejo.

According to the NTSB report, the close friend of Mareels said the pilot had flown passengers from Honolulu International Airport to Hoolehua Airport on Molokai on Oct. 2. On Oct. 11, the pilot flew the passengers from Molokai to Kona for the Ironman Triathlon World Championship.

“The pilot had spent the last week on Kona providing tours to family members of the triathlon athletes,” according to the report. “Trips included flights around the Big Island to Kilauea to view the lava flows, and day trips to Maui and Molokai.”

In previous news accounts, a friend on Oahu described Mareels as an experienced pilot who formerly had flown for United Airlines. Jenna Obluck, United Airlines spokeswoman at its headquarters in Chicago, said Mareels had not worked as a pilot for the airline.

Donn Walker, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Los Angeles, said the agency was looking into Mareels’ credentials as part of the crash investigation.
“There’s an investigation into the accident and the circumstances surrounding the accident,” he said.
He said Mareels had a current pilot’s license.
According to FAA records, he had been involved in one incident while working as a flight instructor on June 23, 2000, Walker said.
While Mareels’ student was flying the aircraft, its left engine lost power and the student lost directional control of the plane, Walker said. He said Mareels tried to control the plane but couldn’t and the left wingtip struck the ground as the plane was landing on Molokai.
The FAA had not taken any enforcement actions against Mareels, Walker said.

Ward Mareels was pilot and....midwife:
Assisting mothers in more then 4000 births (I stop counting). One of the first advises I give to mothers is not to listen to any horror stories. Some mothers seems to score their birth by the level of their horror stories they can produce. Do you now that most of this stories comes from mothers with hospital births. In my busy practice I had only 4 C-sections,no forceps no vacuum extractors no poisoning medications. What are the key elements for a positive experience? 1. Preparation (I advise my mothers to go to Bradly classes with their partners.This is almost a must. 2. Eat right. Stop, if you do, eating ANY junk food. 3. No alcohol, smoking or any medications. 4.Talk only with mothers with positive experiences. 5. Have a HOMEBIRTH WITH A COMPETENT MIDWIFE. 6. And last but not least have an underwaterbirth (This is the only births I do for the last 3 years)And the results are beyond I can describe. <P>Ward Mareels HAWAII 461104
11/20/2001
Ward Mareels
(808) 262-6359 (808) 384-1472 cell mareelsward@cs.com

Post Reply