If there is one thing I have never understood in my 26 years of flying it is pilots running out of fuel.
Reading the accident report below I would have thought 5 people (plus bags?) are pushing it in a Seneca that stayed aloft for 4 hours 42 minutes. They were an hour over their planned time en-route and there were two pilots in the front for a for a journey of 560 miles. I doubt you can top the tanks and have five up in a Seneca.Or have I missed something
From the Eastern Daily Press
Ex-MEP's plane ran out of fuel - report
A report into the plane crash which killed former Norfolk MEP Paul Howell and five others has blamed the pilot and suggests fuel shortage caused the incident.
The colourful socialite was killed in September last year when the Piper Seneca aircraft being flown by his friend Johan Wessels crashed into a beach at Beira in Mozambique during a business trip.
A preliminary report into the incident by Mozambique's civil aviation authority, the IACM, concludes that the pilot was not rated to fly that type of aircraft, that he lacked skills to manage an emergency, made miscalculations which resulted in fuel shortage and that Durban airport staff had approved a flight plan with incorrect information on it.
But Mr Howell's widow, Ayesha, yesterday said it did not fully explain what had happened and called for pressure to be put on South African authorities to do more to find out the facts over a fatal air crash.
A separate investigation by lawyers representing Mr Howell's business partner, Howard Holley, has also seen claims and counter claims the plane was taken without permission from lease firm Majestic Air.
According to the ICAM report, the plane had flown 110 hours over a scheduled inspection. But further details about the state of the aircraft, including its engines, which were reported to have failed, are unclear.
Mrs Howell, who lives at the family home in Wendling, near Dereham, with 14-month-old Zack, said: "I know how he died but I want to know the cause. I want them all to get all the facts and for British authorities to put pressure on South Africa to find out what happened.
"I want Majestic Air and the owners of the aircraft to be held accountable and release any documentation
they have that would help the investigation, which they are not doing."
She said they had flown many times with Mr Wessels and that he was "extremely careful", "would always follow safety and procedure" and was "meticulous".
The IACM report said Mr Wessels held a commercial license with more than 500 flight hours. It said the plane took off at 10.15am from Durban, with a planned flight to last three-and a half hours.
But at 2.52pm local time, the pilot declared an emergency, saying both engines had failed and the plane was going down, after flying more than an hour over that time.
It was the last communication with the plane. No other problem with the aircraft or fuel starvation was reported. Eye witnesses reported hearing engine failure and said there was no fuel spillage at the site.
Two pilots had been declared as flying on the plane, but the IACM states only one was on board, despite Mr Howell still having a licence.