What happened
During a scheduled patrol mission departing from Palermo-Boccadifalco Airport, the crew was conducting surveillance to locate a vessel involved in cigarette smuggling. While in flight, an unforeseen emergency occurred at approximately 19:00 local time. This situation necessitated an immediate ditching of the aircraft in the sea, roughly 70 km away from the coast of Palermo.
Following the impact with the water, the aircraft sank and was subsequently lost. Despite the loss of the airframe, all four occupants were successfully recovered from the scene by rescue teams at 23:30 local time.
Findings
An unexpected situation during the flight forced the crew to abandon the aircraft via a ditching maneuver.