What happened
During a night flight conducted under visual meteorological conditions, a multiengine airplane was performing a series of legs for a newspaper delivery service. Following two successful segments of the flight, the pilot began the third leg without any initial issues. Radar tracking showed that after departing, the aircraft flew over open water at an altitude between 100 and 200 feet before ascending to approximately 2,400 feet. While cruising at this altitude, the pilot executed a full 360-degree turn to the left, followed by a 360-degree turn to the right, before proceeding toward the intended destination.
Within two minutes of these maneuvers, the aircraft entered a rapid left turn while descending, eventually striking the surface of the water. The wreckage was found on the seabed near the final radar position. The impact was severe enough to destroy the nose, cockpit, cabin, and both wings. Because the wreckage was not retrieved, investigators were unable to inspect the aircraft for mechanical failures prior to the crash. The aircraft had undergone an inspection roughly three weeks earlier and had flown only 25 hours since that maintenance event.
Findings
- The pilot possessed approximately 1,650 total flight hours, with 1,100 hours specifically in this aircraft type.
- While the pilot primarily flew during daylight, they were experienced in night operations.
- An autopsy of the pilot revealed no natural diseases that would have contributed to the crash.
- Although ethanol was detected in the pilot's blood, investigators determined this was likely a result of postmortem processes rather than pre-flight consumption.
- The impact with the water caused the total destruction of the airframe.