In most cases, the investigation of a fatal accident reveals an all-too-familiar chain of events leading up to the crash that may include pilot error, weather and, sometimes, mechanical malfunction. But a crash on a calm clear day in Hawaii on Dec. 15, 2005, gave investigators nothing to go on except the smoking wreck of a Cessna 172S buried six feet in a mountainside at the 2,300-foot level near Hana Airport. According to the Honolulu Advertiser, Alan Gerow, 58, of Salt Lake City, a commercial-rated pilot, rented the 172 at Maui Aviators at Kahului Airport and said he intended to fly to Hana Airport and return later in the day. The Adverstiser said Gerow was vacationing in the area and had flown for 30 years before stopping and then resuming about three years before the crash. Although the wreck was close to Hana Airport, its position and direction of travel weren’t consistent with arrival or departure procedures at the airport. A helicopter pilot doing aerial spraying in the area spotted the flaming wreckage but no one saw the crash.
