What happened
During a flight near the Azores Islands, the pilot encountered unexpected technical difficulties while in the air. Due to these ongoing in-flight malfunctions, the pilot was unable to continue the mission and was forced to perform an emergency ditching on the surface of the ocean.
Following the impact with the water, the aircraft began to submerge. While the aircraft eventually sank and was lost at sea, the pilot was successfully rescued from the scene. There were no other occupants on board at the time of the incident, resulting in zero fatalities among the crew, though the airframe was destroyed.
Findings
- The primary driver of the emergency was in-flight technical problems encountered during the flight phase.