What happened
On October 6, 2013, at approximately 0603 Atlantic standard time, a Britten-Norman BN-2A-8, registration N909GD, crashed into the ocean about 7 miles southwest of Benjamin Rivera Noriega Airport (TJCP) in Culebra, Puerto Rico. The aircraft, operated by Air Charter Inc. (dba Air Flamenco), was performing an on-demand air taxi cargo flight under Part 1ered 135 regulations.
The flight began at Antonio Rivera Rodriquez Airport (TJVQ) in Vieques at approximately 0555. The pilot had previously flown from Culebra to Ceiba to pick up newspapers and then to Vieques. No flight plan had been filed for this leg of the trip. Weather conditions were visual meteorological conditions (VMC) with 10 statute miles of visibility.
Radar data showed that after departing TJVQ, the aircraft flew over the water at an altitude between 100 and 200 feet mean sea level before climbing to 2,400 feet. The aircraft then executed a 360-degree left turn and a 360-degree right turn while maintaining 2,400 feet. At 0602:53, the aircraft entered a rapid descending left turn, and radar contact was lost at 0603:07 at an altitude of 1,000 feet.
Search efforts by the operator and the U.S. Coast Guard later located the wreckage on the sea floor at a depth of approximately 85 feet. The pilot sustained 1 fatal injury.
The investigation
The wreckage was found upright, but the impact forces destroyed the nose section, cockpit, cabin, and both wings. The empennage remained intact, though the left horizontal stabilizer showed impact damage. Both engines and propellers remained attached to the aircraft. Because the wreckage was not recovered from the sea floor, investigators were unable to examine the components for preimpact mechanical malfunctions.
Maintenance records indicated the aircraft had undergone a 100-hour inspection approximately 25 hours prior to the accident. The pilot was a commercial, instrument-rated pilot with approximately 1,650 total flight hours, including 1,100 hours in this specific make and model.
An autopsy of the pilot determined the cause of death was severe trauma. While toxicology testing identified a trace amount of ethanol in the pilot's cavity blood, investigators noted this likely resulted from postmortem production, and no drugs were detected. No natural diseases were found to have contributed to the accident.