ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 144752
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| Date: | Sunday 1 April 2012 |
| Time: | 20:16 |
| Type: |  Cessna 182P Skylane |
| Owner/operator: | ABA Sky Inc. |
| Registration: | T8A-182P |
| MSN: | 18261001 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1972 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Aircraft missing |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Missing near Angaur Island -
 Palau
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Survey |
| Departure airport: | Roman Tmetuchl International Airport - ROR/PTRO |
| Roman Tmetuchl International Airport - ROR/PTRO | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
A Cessna 182P Skylane with 3 onboard went down in the vicinity of Angaur in the South of Palau. Unofficial reports state that two Bureau of Public Safety Officers, Earlee Decherong and Willy Mays Towai, and American Pilot Frank Ohlinger were on a police mission in search of a Taiwanese fishing vessel near Kayangel when, en route, the aircraft’s navigational system failed.
The aircraft took off at 3:25 pm and was scheduled to return at 5:00 pm. Sources stated that shortly after the aircraft initially departed, it returned to the airport due to GPS problems. After a repair, the plane took off again heading North to assist in a search effort for the illegal Chinese fishing vesels. The plane missed it’s scheduled return and at 7:45pm the Palau International Airport activated the Airport Emergency Operations Center, under the direction NEMO Coordinator Alonzo Kyota.
Further reports indicate that intermitent radio communication placed the aircraft near Angaur in the South of Palau.
At 8:16 pm the pilot radioed “May Day” and that he was lost at an altitude of 6,000 feet and traveling “north” at 65 knots. He said he was out of fuel and gliding. Officer Decherong was said to have used a radio telephone to say that they were about to make a landing but couldn’t see light or land. Without direction, the pilot apparently flew until the plane ran out of gas and made an emergency water landing.
This morning the Ministry of Justice, the U.S. Coast Guard and 2 helicopters from a visiting super-yacht took off to search for the plane and occupants. It was said that they are searching a grid South of Angaur.
The plane is owned by Japanese investors who secured a Foreign Investment License in Palau under the company name ABA Sky Inc. The plane is said to be a 1972 Cessna.
Earlier this morning, an unofficial source had reported that an airplane was spotted floating near Anguar, but the report turned out to be false with the object being a floating trash pile.
On 5 April 2012 the US Coast Guard suspended its search for an American pilot and two Palau police officers whose plane disappeared Sunday near Palau in the western Pacific.
At present, 7 April 2012, the plane and its occupants are still missing.
On 8 April 2012 The Palau government suspended its search for the three men who went missing after their small plane ran out of fuel and disappeared after gliding into Palau waters. The three men are beleived to have died.
The exact same aircraft had previously sustained damage in a flying accident exactly two years ago (April 1, 2010) when it made a "hard" landing on runway 09 at Roman Tmetuchl International Airport (ROR/PTRO).
Sources:
http://www.oceanviewpalau.com/aba-sky.html
http://www.kuam.com/story/17316565/uscg-searches-for-three-off-palau-waters
http://aircrashed.com/cause/cWPR10WA114.shtml (same aircraft, same airport, different crash on 01/04/210)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/uscg-suspends-search-3-missing-near-palau-100006865.html
http://www.guampdn.com/article/20120409/NEWS01/204090308/Palau-calls-off-search-Toribiong-holds-talks-Chinese-officials?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage
http://www.oceanviewpalau.com/image/main-images/aba-plane.jpg (photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 4 January 2010 | T8A-182P | 0 | Palau Airport, Koror Island | |
unk |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Apr-2012 08:28 | gerard57 | Added |
| 02-Apr-2012 14:07 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Source] |
| 03-Apr-2012 10:13 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 03-Apr-2012 10:57 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Registration, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 03-Apr-2012 18:13 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Country, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 07-Apr-2012 07:07 | gerard57 | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 09-Apr-2012 04:08 | gerard57 | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 06-Jun-2022 04:53 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
| 05-May-2023 16:19 | RDV | Updated [[Location, Narrative]] |
| 28-Sep-2023 06:37 | Ron Averes | Updated [[[Location, Narrative]]] |
| 28-Sep-2023 06:38 | harro | Updated [[[[Location, Narrative]]]] |
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