Cessna 208B accident near Lahaina, Hawaii, October 26, 1998
On October 26, 1998 at about 5:09 pm local time, a Cessna 208B, registered N860FE, was substantially damaged in an accident near Lahaina, Hawaii (Kapalua airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
Structural failure of the main landing gear strut due to metallurgical fatigue. The fatigue cracks originated at an internal structural flaw placed in the part during manufacture.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 26, 1998 · about 5:09 pm local time
- Place
- Lahaina, Hawaii · Kapalua
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 208B · all 208Bs on the register
- Registration
- N860FE · no longer on the register · serial C28B0182
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
Following a normal approach and landing, the left wing of the fixed gear aircraft dropped and the aircraft skidded on its belly-mounted cargo pod. Despite the pilot's attempt to maintain directional control, the aircraft veered off the runway to the left and down an embankment. Investigation revealed that the left main landing gear strut, a tubular spring steel assembly, was broken approximately midway between the wheel assembly and the fuselage attachment. Laboratory metallurgical analysis revealed that the strut failed due to multiple fatigue cracks that originated from an extrusion lap on the inside diameter of the strut. The lap was formed during the manufacture of the tubing from which the strut is fabricated, and caused a structural discontinuity from which the fatigue cracks initiated.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 6,000 hours in all; 1,500 in this make and model; 38 in the last 90 days; 25 in the last 30 days; 5,700 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,835 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, August 12, 1998; 41 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 8,750 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: P&W PT6A-114A (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Operator: Corporate Air, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: HNL Honolulu HI at 4:29 pm
- Destination: HJH
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 2, 3,000 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 070° at 10 knots
- Visibility: 15 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 1,500 ft
- Temperature: 73°F (23°C), dew point 68°F (20°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 4:45 pm from PHJ
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.