What happened
On January 18, 2002, a Britten-Norman BN2-A, registration N616GL, was conducting a sightseeing excursion near Beef Island, British Virgin Islands. The flight, operated by Fly BVI Inc., departed from Beef Island at 14:00 local time. During the tour, the aircraft suffered a simultaneous loss of power in both engines.
Following the engine failure, the pilot contacted the Beef Island control tower to declare an emergency and provided a position report. The pilot then communicated the intention to perform a ditching maneuver off the coast of the island. The aircraft subsequently came to rest in approximately six feet of water near the shoreline. While the aircraft sustained substantial damage, there were no injuries reported among the pilot or the passengers.
Findings
Investigations conducted by the British Virgin Islands Department of Civil Aviation revealed that both fuel tanks contained approximately 23 gallons of fuel at the time of the accident. The flight was operating under visual meteorological conditions, and no flight plan had been filed for the mission.