What happened
On February 11, 2008, a Cessna 310N, registration N5030Q, was performing a ferry flight from Narsarsuaq Airport (BGBW) in Greenland to Reykjavik Airport (BIRK) in Iceland. The purpose of the flight was to deliver the aircraft from a seller in the United States to a buyer in Bulgaria.
At approximately 1540 UTC, the pilot contacted Icelandic air traffic control (ATC) to report an engine power loss. The pilot stated the aircraft was operating on a single engine due to fuel starvation and requested a flight plan change to land at Keflavík International Airport (BIKF). During subsequent communications, the pilot reported that fuel could not be transferred from the left side to the right side, which he believed was due to icing.
As the flight progressed, the pilot indicated that reaching BIKF was unlikely given the remaining usable fuel. At 1604 UTC, the pilot reported that he would most likely not reach the airport and informed ATC that power had been lost on both engines and the aircraft was descending. The final transmission from the aircraft, "Go Reykjavik 3Q," was received at 1609 UTC. The aircraft was last seen on radar at 1610 UTC, approximately 52.8 miles west of the Icelandic radar site, descending at 1,700 feet. Search and rescue operations were initiated, but the aircraft and pilot were not immediately located.
The investigation
Fifteen years after the disappearance, in March 2023, a fishing trawler recovered wreckage approximately 51.5 nautical miles west of Keflavik Airport. The recovered items included an engine, propeller, engine nacelle, portions of the left wing and aileron, and a bag containing logbooks. The remains of the pilot were also confirmed within the wreckage.
An examination of the recovered propeller showed the blades were bent toward the face side, which was consistent with an impact with water while the propeller was rotating with low energy. There were no signs of mechanical failure or malfunction of the propeller prior to the impact. The engine showed heavy rust and barnacles, and no further mechanical examination was conducted.