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Inter Island Air Government Aircraft Fact (GAF) NOMAD 24A accident

1 Sept 1987 · LANAI, HI, United States

Government Aircraft Fact (GAF) NOMAD 24A · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) en route

From Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) to Hilo, HI

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Event

NTSB case
LAX87LA322
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Charter & commuter
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Government Aircraft Fact (GAF) NOMAD 24A

Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N37808
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Honolulu, HITo Hilo, HI
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
En route · cruise
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Fuel exhaustion
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Fluid, fuel › Exhaustion
  • Pilot in command › Planning/decision, improper

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

WHEN THE FLT WAS APRX 15 MI WEST OF LANAI ON A CARGO FLT FROM HONOLULU TO HILO, HI, THE PLT OBSERVED THE FUEL GAUGES OSCILLATING ERRATICALLY TOWARD THE LOW SIDE. HE DIVERTED TOWARD LANAI TO REFUEL. HOWEVER, WHEN THE FLT WAS ABT 9 MI WESTOF LANAI, THE LEFT ENG FLAMED OUT. THE PLT FEATHERED THE LEFT ENG, BUT SHORTLY THEREAFTER (ABOUT 2 MI WEST OF LANAI), THE RIGHT ENG FLAMED OUT. WITH BOTH PROPS FEATHERED, HE ELECTED TO LAND ON AN UPWARD SLOPING ROAD. DURING THE LANDING ROLL, THE PLANE'S LEFT WING TIP STRUCK A SIGNPOST & A DIRT BANK WHICH CAUSED THE PLANE TO PIVOT FURTHER LEFT & NOSE INTO THE EMBANKMENT. NO FUEL OR FUEL LEAKAGE WAS FOUND DURING A POST-ACDNT EXAM. WHEN 1ST CHECKED, THE LEFT OUTBOARD FUEL GAUGE INDCD 70 TO 80 LBS OF FUEL REMAINING. LATER, BOTH LEFT FUEL GAUGES HAD ZERO READINGS. THE RGT OUTBOARD & INBOARD FUEL GAUGES INDCD 25 & 20 LBS, RESPECTIVELY.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX87LA322
Event ID
20001213X32113
Case number
LAX87LA322
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1987-09-02.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: a1504780af01092076aa2a73a22a248c29e8708b08be74fe7038721390604ccd; retrieved 2026-09-18T19:38:16.675Z.