Air Tahiti Flight 805
Dornier 228-212 · Ditched following engine failure and loss of altitude
From Hiva Oa-Atuona Airport (AUQ) to Nuku Hiva Airport (NHV)
Event
- 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
- Event fatalities
- 10 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 22
- Survivors
- 12
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 12
- 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
- Airline
Dornier 228-212
- Aircraft type
- Dornier 228
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- 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
- F-OHAB
- Operator
- Air Tahiti
- Onboard fatalities
- 10
- Route
- From Hiva Oa-Atuona Airport (AUQ)To Nuku Hiva Airport (NHV)
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Task performance
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Personnel issues › Physical
- Organizational issues › Support/oversight/monitoring
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 18 April 1991, Air Tahiti Flight 805, a Dornier 228-212 flying a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Hiva Oa to Nuku Hiva in French Polynesia, crashed following a ditching attempt whilst on approach to Nuku Hiva Airport, killing 10 of the 22 occupants on board.
Flight history
The Dornier Do 228 departed from Hiva Oa at 11:10 a.m. local time (10:40 p.m. CET) with 22 individuals on board. At 11:43 a.m. local time (11:13 p.m. CET), the crew contacted air traffic control in Nuku Hiva, which instructed them to land on runway 06. However, at 11:56 a.m. local time (11:26 p.m. CET), air traffic control overheard one of the pilots stating an intention to approach runway 24. This was denied, and the crew was reiterated to land on runway 06. At this point, the aircraft was approximately 700 feet in altitude and 400 meters from runway 24, with both propellers having failed. The aircraft then made left and right turns before crashing into the water behind the runway.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The investigation concluded that the crash resulted from the pilots' inappropriate response to the engine failure. This alone should not have caused the crash. Additional contributing factors included probable crew intoxication, inadequate enforcement of type qualifications for the Dornier Do 228, and deficiencies in Air Tahiti's technical oversight of the aircraft. The Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) had failed to correctly supervise the pilot qualification program on the aircraft which had been rushed into service. The DGAC was also faulted for not having noticed the hastiness of its entry into service or the airline's lack of rigor in crew training.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Air Tahiti Flight 805” (revision 1364979033, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Air Tahiti Flight 805
- Article
- Air Tahiti Flight 805
- Revision
- 1364979033 · 2026-07-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q90500158
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Air Tahiti Flight 805" (page 74586400, revision 1364979033)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- flight number in the article title
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.