What happened
On the evening of October 29, 2014, a Shorts SD3-60, registered N380MQ, crashed into the ocean shortly after departing from Runway 28 at Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten. The aircraft was performing a scheduled cargo mission for FedEx, traveling from the Dutch Antilles to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
During the initial climb, air traffic control had instructed the crew to maintain a heading of 230 degrees until reaching 4,000 feet. However, within one minute of takeoff, controllers observed the aircraft descending visually, and the radar signal subsequently vanished. No distress signals were transmitted by the crew. At the time of the accident, the area was experiencing rain and night-time conditions. Search teams from the Coast Guard located debris near the coastline approximately 90 minutes later. The accident resulted in 2 fatalities.
Findings
An investigation involving authorities from the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada examined the wreckage and recovered data from a handheld GPS unit. While the aircraft lacked flight recorders due to its cargo configuration, the GPS data confirmed the aircraft passed the runway threshold and reached a peak altitude of 433 feet. Subsequent data points showed the aircraft was over the water with decreasing altitude and increasing speed.
Technical examinations of the wreckage determined that the engines and airframe were functioning normally and that no mechanical failures contributed to the crash. Investigators determined that the pilot experienced a somatogravic illusion during the stressful takeoff and flap retraction phase. This sensory error, combined with a manual pitch-down input during a heading change, caused the aircraft to enter an extreme unusual attitude. The pilot monitoring failed to intervene, leading to a loss of control and a fatal impact with the sea.