What happened
An owner reported that his twin-engine aircraft had been missing since May 10, 1984. The owner stated that the aircraft had been preflighted and subsequently departed on a southerly heading. An offshore oil rig crew spotted a twin-engine aircraft heading south at the time.
Search efforts conducted by the Coast Guard were unsuccessful in locating the plane or its occupants. The pilot provided no indication of his intentions or possible destination prior to the departure. Because the exact location of the accident could not be determined, the place of departure was used as an arbitrary location for the incident record.
The investigation
No physical evidence of the aircraft was recovered during the search efforts. Consequently, no mechanical examination or flight data analysis was possible. The investigation relied entirely on witness accounts from the offshore oil rig and the owner's report regarding the preflight status.
Findings
The primary finding is that the aircraft vanished without a distress signal or known crash site. The lack of a filed flight plan or communicated intentions left investigators with no track to follow beyond the visual sighting by the oil rig crew. The absence of wreckage suggests the aircraft may have crashed into the ocean, but this remains unconfirmed due to the lack of physical evidence.