Pilot misjudgment found
as a Molokai crash factor

A cockpit recording reveals pilots
mistook a mountain for clouds

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By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

WAILUKU >> The pilot and co-pilot aboard a Sabreliner corporate jet that crashed into a Molokai mountain two years ago, killing six people, apparently misjudged the plane's location, according to a report released by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The investigator who prepared the report said the flight crew had crossed seven time zones during flight duty that exceeded 14 hours, and noted studies where fatigue and decreased alertness can manifest themselves in performance errors.

Preston Hicks, the board's southwest regional manager, said yesterday the board has not made a final determination about the probable cause of the crash.

Passengers and crew, who went through customs on Maui after a stop at Christmas Island, left the Kahului Airport about 8:08 p.m. May 10, 2000, heading for Molokai.

Colorado businessman Macy Price Sr., who owned the jet, traveled frequently with his son Macy Jr. to his ranches in Argentina and Molokai.

The cockpit voice recorder retrieved from the crash site indicated the 63-year-old pilot, William Marr, had difficulty seeing the airport runway.

"This wasn't supposed to be difficult," Marr said.

Co-pilot Jason Miller, 28, who was serving as the navigator, said he had the runway in sight.

Marr said the landing gear was going down, then said the flaps were going to full down.

Marr said he was going down a little bit, and the jet descended to an altitude of 1,300 feet, the report said.

"Oop," Marr said.

"That's the clouds," Miller said.

"Let's have that again. That's the clouds, huh? Oh," Marr said.

Three seconds later, Marr said, "ooh, wadoyou ..." and the cockpit voice recorder ended a second later.

The jet struck the side of the mountain ridge about 100 feet from its crest at 8:31 p.m., about 3.3 miles southwest of the airport at Hoolehua.

Killed in the crash were Miller of Newton, Kan.; Marr and Marr's 63-year-old wife, Laurel, of Clearlake, Iowa; Delilah Deterding, 20, of Argentina; and Macy Price Sr., 69, and his 38-year-old son, Macy Price Jr., both of Golden, Colo.

According to the report released Thursday, a pilot who had flown with Marr to Argentina described him as someone who did not like to go through a landing approach checklist with a crew member.

The pilot said that on one flight to Argentina, he took it upon himself to brief Marr on the approach, after they encountered unexpected weather in mountainous terrain, the federal report said.