History of the Flight
The accident occurred during the sixth sector of a delivery flight from Florida to Argentina. The aircraft, N66778, a 1974 Cessna 150M, departed from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and landed at Beef Island on 18 July 2018. After refueling, the pilot began the takeoff roll at 2017 UTC from Runway 07. Witnesses observed the aircraft's rear fuselage touch the runway during rotation. The aircraft climbed to approximately 100–200 ft, then flew at slow speed with a nose-high attitude along the remaining runway. It initiated a left turn; during the turn, the nose pitched up, the left wing dropped, and the aircraft entered a steep nose dive, impacting the sea about 250 m north of the Runway 25 threshold.
Accident Site and Recovery
The wreckage came to rest in approximately 5 m of water. Recovery personnel used flotation bags and a crane to bring the aircraft ashore. The rear fuselage had separated from the front fuselage aft of the seats, connected only by control cables. The right wing exhibited significant leading-edge crumpling, consistent with a near-vertical water impact, right wing first.
Aircraft Examination
Examination confirmed that primary control surfaces and control runs were intact before impact. The elevator trim tab was neutrally positioned. The right flap was up; the left flap was down, but the synchronisation cable had snapped at the left-wing root due to overload. Engine controls were found in a position that could not be reliably determined to be pre-impact settings due to disruption during recovery. An auxiliary fuel tank of rubberised fabric construction was recovered; it included an electric pump for transferring fuel to the main tanks.
Recorded Information
The pilot used a flight planning app on a mobile phone and tablet. Due to impact damage and seawater exposure, no data could be recovered from the devices. Cloud-stored data from earlier flights was available, showing no abnormalities. No radar data was available due to low-level coverage limitations. Recorded radio transmissions indicated the pilot's transmissions were nearly unreadable, requiring repeated instructions.
Weight and Balance
The investigation noted that the aircraft was likely operating slightly above maximum takeoff weight and with the centre of gravity aft of the approved limit. Several items in the cabin were unsecured and may have shifted aft during the takeoff roll, further moving the centre of gravity aft. This condition may have contributed to control difficulties leading to the stall.
Emergency Response
After the accident, the duty air traffic controller attempted to contact emergency services via 911 but initially could not connect. Virgin Islands Search and Rescue (VISAR) was alerted through the US Coast Guard, who heard about the accident on the marine distress radio channel. Improvements in emergency communications on the British Virgin Islands were implemented following this event.