History of the Flight
The pilot and owner of G-ILEA, a Piper PA-31 Navajo, planned to fly with his wife, stepson, and fiancée from Barbados to the island of Canouan for lunch. On the morning of 18 May 2003, the stepson and fiancée cancelled, but the pilot and his wife proceeded. After arriving at Grantley Adams International Airport, the pilot taxied to the passenger terminal for customs clearance, noting he was running late. The aircraft departed for Canouan at 1628 hrs local. The hotel manager in Canouan received two calls from the pilot: first requesting a lunch table at 1630 hrs, then later saying he would arrive around 1700 hrs.
After an uneventful flight, the pilot filed a return flight plan declaring two hours of endurance and inquired about fuel availability at Canouan. He was told that no AVGAS was available. He and his wife returned to the airport later that afternoon and boarded the aircraft. An eyewitness noted difficulty starting the right engine. The ATC controller recalled the aircraft sat on the ramp with engines running for an unusually long time. Before departure, the pilot reported fuel endurance as two and a half hours.
The aircraft took off at 2001 hrs. After passing through Joshua control, the pilot contacted Barbados Arrivals, stating he was 81 miles west of Barbados at flight level 55, estimating arrival at 2106 UTC. This was his only complete transmission.
Radar and Emergency
Barbados radar showed the aircraft level at FL54 with a groundspeed of 100 kt. About three minutes after entering Barbados airspace, the aircraft turned south and descended at about 400 ft/min to 2,300 ft, then resumed an easterly track for six and a half minutes. It then descended to 1,900 ft and turned southeast, continuing to descend until radar contact was lost.
At 2038 hrs, pilots of a commercial flight from Grenada to Barbados heard a MAYDAY call from G-ILEA. Because of the aircraft's range and low altitude, Barbados ATC could not receive the transmission and asked the commercial crew to relay. After several exchanges, the commercial crew relayed that the pilot of G-ILEA "had lost one engine; it appeared he was losing fuel and he doubted that he could make Barbados." During this relay, a breakthrough transmission from G-ILEA was heard: "...FUEL.....GOING TO HAVE TO DITCH IT HERE."
The final radar return at 2043 hrs showed the aircraft at an altitude of 600 feet, 54.76 miles on the 259° radial from Barbados. An immediate search and rescue operation was launched but found no sign of the aircraft or its two occupants after 74 hours.
Fuel and Experience
A reconciliation of fuel receipts and flight times indicated that, at best, the aircraft would have been short of fuel for the flight, and at worst could have run out. The pilot's flying logbook was lost with the aircraft, but records showed he obtained a UK PPL in 1981 and later added multi-engine and IMC ratings. He had about 390 hours total, with 70 on type. A witness reported a previous incident of fuel starvation on a flight from Antigua. The aircraft's fuel system included four bladder tanks with capacity: two inboard (56 US gal each), two outboard (40 US gal each), and two nacelle tanks (27 US gal each). Fuel gauges displayed selected tank contents as a proportion of capacity, requiring pilot calculation.
Meteorological Information
An aftercast by the Meteorological Office showed no significant weather. Winds at cruise altitude were 110°/20 kt.