Event Details


Title:In-Flight Engine Failure and Subsequent Ditching, Air Sunshine, Inc., Flight 527, Cessna 402C, N314AB, About 7.35 Nautical Miles West-Northwest of Treasure Cay Airport, Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, July 13, 2003
Micro summary:This Cessna 402C ditched following an engine failure.
Event Time:2003-07-13 at 1530 EDT
File Name:2003-07-13-US.pdf
Publishing Agency:National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Publishing Country:USA
Report number:NTSB/AAR-04/03
Pages:60
Site of event:7.35 NM west-northwest of Treasure Cay Airport, Gr
Latitude/Longitude:N26°45.547' W77°31.642'
Departure:Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International, Florida, USA
Destination:Treasure Cay Airport, Treasure Cay, Abaco, Bahamas
Airplane Type(s):Cessna 402C
Flight Phase:Cruise
Registration(s):N314AB
Operator(s):Air Sunshine
Type of flight:Revenue
Occupants:10
Fatalities:2
Serious Injuries:6
Minor/Non-Injured:2
Other Injuries:0
Executive Summary:Abstract: This report explains the accident involving Air Sunshine, Inc., flight 527, a Cessna 402C, which experienced an in-flight engine failure and was subsequently ditched about 7.35 nautical miles west-northwest of Treasure Cay Airport, Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. The safety issues discussed in this report include maintenance record-keeping and practices, pilot proficiency, Federal Aviation Adminstration (FAA) oversight, and emergency briefings. A safety recommendation concerning emergency briefings is addressed to the FAA.

Executive Summary On July 13, 2003, about 1530 eastern daylight time, Air Sunshine, Inc. (doing business as Tropical Aviation Services, Inc.), flight 527, a Cessna 402C, N314AB, was ditched in the Atlantic Ocean about 7.35 nautical miles west-northwest of Treasure Cay Airport (MYAT), Treasure Cay, Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, following the in-flight failure of the right engine. Four of the nine passengers sustained no injuries, three passengers and the pilot sustained minor injuries, and one adult and one child passenger died after they evacuated the airplane. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 as a scheduled international passenger commuter flight from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to MYAT. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on a visual flight rules flight plan.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the in-flight failure of the right engine and the pilot's failure to adequately manage the airplane's performance after the engine failed. The right engine failure resulted from inadequate maintenance that was performed by Air Sunshine's maintenance personnel during undocumented maintenance. Contributing to the passenger fatalities was the pilot's failure to provide an emergency briefing after the right engine failed.

The safety issues discussed in this report include maintenance record-keeping and practices, pilot proficiency, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight, and emergency briefings. A safety recommendation concerning emergency briefings is addressed to the FAA.
Learning Keywords:Operations - Ditching/Water Evacuation
Operations - Evacuation
Systems - Engine - Contained Engine Failure
Other - Regulatory Oversight
Consequence - Hull Loss
Close match:Report on the accident to Aerospatiale AS332L Super Puma, G-TIGK, in North Sea 6 nm South West of Brae Alpha Oil Production Platform on 19 January 1995
Descent into ocean, Scandinavian Airlines System, McDonnell-Douglas DC-8-62, LN-M00, (Norwegian Registry) in Santa Monica Bay, Approximately 6 miles off Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, January 13, 1969
Fuel exhaustion, Overseas National Airways, Inc., Douglas DC-9, N935F, Operating As Antilliaanse Luchtvaart Maatschappij Flight 980, Near St. Croix, Virgin Islands, May 2, 1970
Ethiopian Airlines B767 (ET-AIZ) Aircraft Accident In the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros, in the Indian Ocean on November 23, 1996
Accidental ditching, Japan Airlines Co., Ltd., DC-8-62, JA8032, San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, California, November 22, 1968

 




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