Incident Overview
A Cessna 172N, being delivered from Tampa, Florida, to a Spanish flight school in La Coruna, Spain, was ditched in the Atlantic Ocean after the engine stopped during cruise. The pilot was rescued by a Portuguese fishing vessel several hours after the ditching. The aircraft remained afloat for several hours in a nose-down attitude before sinking in approximately 5,000 meters of water.
Flight Details
The ferry flight included a stop at Bangor, Maine, where a 124 US gallon long-range (ferry) fuel system was installed. The aircraft then flew to Gander, Newfoundland, and onward to Santa Maria, Azores, with no reported abnormalities. At Santa Maria, the aircraft was fueled with 111.22 US gallons, adding to the remaining fuel from the Gander leg. The pilot estimated an endurance of 13.5 hours for the 9.5-hour flight to La Coruna.
Engine Failure
The pilot departed Santa Maria using the wing fuel tanks. After 30 minutes, as per his established procedure, he shut down the wing tank system and switched to the long-range tank system. Approximately five hours into the cruise, the engine ceased operating for unknown reasons. The pilot was unable to restart the engine after switching back to the wing tanks and conducting further troubleshooting.
Ditching and Rescue
The aircraft was ditched about 350 miles west of the coast of Portugal. A Portuguese fishing vessel retrieved the pilot several hours after the ditching. The aircraft sustained damage during the ditching and eventually sank.