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NTSB report: Plane did not slow down on Kapalua runway

The Maui News

A Mokulele Airlines plane didn’t slow down when pilots applied reverse thrust and maximum braking before the aircraft skidded off the runway while landing at Kapalua Airport last month, according to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report.

The report, released Monday, said the turbine-powered Cessna 208B sustained substantial damage to the left aileron when it overran the runway and continued down an embankment and into an area of trees and brush at 10:37 a.m. Aug. 18.

No injuries were reported to the two crew members and eight occupants aboard Flight 504, which had left Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu at 9:47 a.m.

The first officer, who was flying the plane, reported that “the airplane was a little fast and floated longer down the runway than normal,” according to the report. The captain, who was the monitoring pilot, said the airplane touched down about halfway down the 3,000-foot-long runway, which was “a little longer than normal,” according to the report.

After touchdown, the first officer moved the propeller thrust in reverse but the airplane didn’t slow down, the captain reported. The plane still didn’t slow down when the captain took the flights controls and moved the thrust lever to full reverse, then applied maximum brakes, according to the report.

The crew and passengers were evacuated through the main door, the report said.

Winds of nearly 14 mph were reported about the time of the accident.

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