Hamilton – Pago Pago – Christmas Island – Kiribati – Hilo – Oakland

On December 26, 2003 at 06:01 AM, Hamilton – Pago Pago – Christmas Island – Kiribati – Hilo – Oakland experienced a crash involving PAC 750XL - Pacific Aerospace Corporation, operated by Utility Aircraft Corporation, with the event recorded near Pacific Ocean All World.

The flight was categorized as delivery and the reported phase was flight at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

1 people were known to be on board, 1 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The pilot was ferrying the aircraft from Hamilton, New Zealand to Davis, California, via Pago Pago, American Samoa; Christmas Island, Kiribati; and Hilo, Hawaii. On the final leg, following a position report 858 nm from San Francisco, he reported a problem with his fuel system, indicating a probable ditching. Under the observation of a US Coast Guard HC-130 crew, the pilot ditched the aircraft at 1701 UTC, 341 nm from San Francisco, the aircraft nosing over on to its back as it touched down. The pilot did not emerge as expected and was later found by rescue swimmers, deceased, still in the cockpit. His body could not be recovered and was lost with the aircraft.

Aircraft reference details include registration ZK-UAC, MSN 103, year of manufacture 2003.