Incident Overview
On February 24, 2021, at approximately 1104 eastern standard time, radar contact was lost with an experimental amateur-built Lancair 320 (registration N670BS) while it was over the Atlantic Ocean about 16 nautical miles southeast of Boca Raton, Florida. The airplane wreckage and the pilot were not subsequently located. Consequently, the airplane was presumed to have impacted the Atlantic Ocean and sustained substantial damage, and the pilot was presumed to be fatally injured. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight.
Flight Path
According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radar tracking data, the airplane departed DeLand Municipal Airport (DED) in DeLand, Florida, around 0949 and flew southeast toward Boca Raton Airport (BCT). A review of FAA audio recordings revealed that the pilot contacted the BCT air traffic control tower at 1054:00 when the airplane was about 10 miles northwest of the airport. The pilot reported that the airplane was at an altitude of 2,400 ft mean sea level (msl) and descending, stating his intention to land at BCT. The controller instructed the pilot to report when he had entered a left downwind for runway 5; at 1054:30, the pilot replied, “report left downwind for runway five, bravo sierra.” No further communications were recorded from the pilot or the controller.
Shortly after the pilot’s radio transmission, the airplane made a gradual turn to the right (turning about 12° over 10–15 seconds) followed by a gradual turn to the left (turning about 10° over about 10 seconds). The turn stopped at 1054:58, after which the airplane flew straight on a true heading of about 136°. The airplane entered BCT’s Class D airspace from the northwest while descending through 1,700 ft msl. It continued southeast and, at 1057:53, was abeam BCT 1 nautical mile to the northeast at 1,400 ft msl. The airplane exited Class D airspace about 1 nautical mile east of Boca Raton at an altitude of about 1,100 ft msl. It continued descending on a southeast heading until 1104:02, when track data were lost. At that time, the airplane was about 16 nautical miles southeast of BCT at about 100 ft msl and a groundspeed of about 155 knots.
Air Traffic Control and Search Efforts
During a postaccident interview, the local controller at BCT did not recall the details of the accident. Based on the interview, he surmised that he had not observed the airplane as it transitioned through BCT airspace. The BCT tower staff were unaware of the event until family members reported the airplane overdue.
On February 26, two days after the flight, family members reported the airplane overdue. The FAA issued an alert notification around 1022 that day and coordinated with the US Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and the US Coast Guard for search and rescue. Surface vessels and aircraft began searching about 1240, and the effort was suspended about 1937 on March 1 with “no findings” regarding the airplane and pilot. No flight plans were on file for the pilot.
Pilot Background
According to FAA airman records, the 87-year-old male pilot’s last aviation medical examination was in July 2010. At that time, he reported a history of high blood pressure treated with medication and was issued a third-class medical certificate limited by a requirement to wear corrective lenses. In September 2010, the FAA sent him a letter requesting information about a history of heart pain, coronary artery disease requiring an angioplasty, and high blood pressure requiring medication; he had not reported these conditions during his medical examination, nor had he disclosed a prior Special Issuance medical certification that had expired in 2001. The pilot responded but declined to provide the requested information. As a result, the FAA revoked his medical certificate on March 30, 2011. Revocation of a pilot’s most recently issued medical certificate disqualifies that pilot from exercising privileges requiring medical certification, as well as from exercising sport pilot privileges. The pilot’s airman certificates (commercial and private pilot) were subsequently revoked in February 2015 after the FAA determined he had previously operated an airplane without a valid medical certificate.
According to a friend of the pilot, he had been visiting the DeLand area for a couple of days. She had flown with him several times. He did not mention recent problems with the airplane but noted that a navigation system had been “checked out” about one month before the flight and that one of the wingtip lights had been replaced a few months prior. The friend reported that the pilot fueled the airplane at DED (fuel records showed he purchased 14 gallons the day before the flight). She stated that the pilot seemed healthy and had undergone a heart procedure about three years before the accident.
Weather Conditions
Weather radar records showed an area of precipitation along the airplane’s track around 1057:00; however, ceilings likely remained at or above 1,500 ft msl, and the flight was below 1,500 ft msl during the last seven minutes. There was no evidence of wind shear, outflow boundaries, or other convective wind phenomena near the accident site at the accident time.