Incident Overview
On April 3, 2012, at approximately 0920 Atlantic Standard Time, a Hawker Beechcraft C90GTx, registration N8116L, operated by Lider Taxi Aereo, experienced a dual loss of engine power during cruise. The aircraft subsequently ditched in the waters of the Caribbean Sea, about 17 miles north of Aruba. The flight had departed from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and was destined for Hato International Airport (TNCC) in Willemstad, Curacao. The airline transport pilot and a pilot-rated passenger were uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight plan was filed for the delivery flight conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Recovery Attempt
The vessel Amsterdam arrived at the ditching location at 1120. The aircraft was partially submerged. The crew of the Amsterdam attempted to prevent the airplane from sinking by placing a cable around it and hoisting it onboard. During the attempted recovery, the fuselage broke in half, and the airplane sank.
Investigation Findings
Review of the fuel ticket revealed that the misspelled words "Top Neclles" were handwritten on it, and it was signed by the pilot. Further review indicated that only 25 gallons had been uploaded to the airplane, entered in the box labeled "TOTAL GALLONS DELIVERED." The start and end readings from the truck meter concurred with this amount. It was discovered that the "134 gallons" the pilot believed had been uploaded was actually the employee number of the fueler who had topped off the nacelle tanks, entered on the "FUEL DEL BY:" line. Using the information on the fuel ticket, it was determined that the airplane had departed with only 261 gallons of fuel onboard. Review of performance data in the Pilot's Operating Handbook/Airplane Flight Manual (POH/AFM) revealed that to complete the flight, the airplane would have needed to depart with 328 gallons onboard.