Study of plane wreckage
finds no structural defect

The Cessna 310 that crashed
Sunday likely exploded on impact

WAILUKU » National Transportation Safety Board investigator Tealeye Cornejo said no defects were found in the engine and structure of the Cessna 310 that crashed Sunday, killing a pilot on Maui.

Cornejo said yesterday that the airplane appeared to have exploded upon impact at the 3,700-foot level of western Haleakala.

The pilot, Ward M. Mareels, 54, of Kailua, Oahu, died in the crash shortly after departing Kahului Airport at 9:18 p.m. Sunday.

"He hit pretty level with the terrain, and there was a fire mark from the first identified point of impact to the final resting spot," she said.

Cornejo, who finished her examination of the crash site and wreckage yesterday, said Mareels was flying his twin-engine airplane from Kahului Airport to Kailua-Kona on the Big Island to meet friends who were participating in the Ironman Triathlon.

Residents in the Kula area said they saw an airplane flying low and level toward the slope and wondered why it was heading toward the mountain rather than flying around it.

Residents described the night weather as clear, but there was no moon, Cornejo said.

Mareels, a flight instructor, was flying his airplane by visual flight rules and not using navigational instruments during his trip, she said.

Shortly before the crash, Mareels notified the Federal Aviation Administration control tower that he was leaving the 3,000-foot level and increasing his altitude, she said. He did not indicate he had any problems.

Cornejo said she was still working on the investigation and had not determined a probable cause of the crash.