What happened
On May 5, 2012, at 0640 UTC, a Piper PA42 Cheyenne III, registered F-GXES, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean approximately four minutes after departing from Grand Case, St. Maarten. The aircraft was performing a non-scheduled cross-country flight destined for Fort de France, Martinique.
Witnesses observed the aircraft explode before impacting the sea, which was located roughly three miles from the airport. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were within visual meteorological limits. The crash resulted in 4 fatalities for the pilot and three passengers on board.