Incident Overview
While cruising at night over Florida, the pilot contacted air traffic control and reported a loss of engine power. The controller cleared the pilot to divert to Fort Pierce-St Lucie County Airport. During the final approach, the airplane stalled, entered a dive, and crashed a few miles from the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed in the impact, and all four occupants were killed.
Probable Cause and Contributing Factors
The official investigation determined that the probable cause of the accident was engine failure, a stall on final approach, and the subsequent crash, all stemming from an inadequate preflight preparation by the pilot. Contributing factors included mismanagement of fuel on the part of the pilot, the pilot's inattentiveness to the fuel supply, fuel exhaustion, the pilot's failure to maintain flying speed, and a partial loss of power on both engines.