What happened
On 24 July 2009, a Cessna 401, registration VQ-TLG, was conducting a private flight from Grand Turk to Salt Cay in the Turks & Caicos Islands. While the aircraft was descending through roughly 1,000 ft during its approach to Runway 08, the left engine failed. The pilot attempted to restart the engine but was unable to do so.
Assessing that the aircraft would be unable to reach the airfield, the pilot decided to ditch the aircraft in a large, shallow lake located beneath the base leg of the approach. The ditching was completed successfully, with the propellers and the underside of the fuselage sustaining damage. All six occupants—one crew member and five passengers—were able to exit the aircraft through the cabin door. There were no fatalities, though two passengers sustained minor injuries.
The investigation
The investigation was based on the aircraft accident report form provided by the pilot. At the time of the report, the specific cause of the left engine failure had not been determined, as the engines had not yet undergone inspection.