Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Atlantic Ocean
Thursday, July 24, 1997 16:20 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

About 1 hour after departure and 15 minutes after reaching the cruising altitude of 9,000 feet, the left engine quit. The flight crew feathered the left propeller and turned toward the closest airport which was 80 miles away. The aircraft would not maintain altitude and entered a 500 foot per minute descent. About 20 minutes after engine failure the aircraft was ditched in the ocean about 50 miles from the closest airport. The flight crew and passengers were rescued the following morning and the aircraft was not recovered. The second pilot and owner of the aircraft stated the aircraft was about 90 pounds over the maximum allowable weight at the time of departure. The previous owner of the aircraft stated that both engines had exceeded the recommended overhaul time by about 450 flight hours.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure of the aircraft to maintain altitude for undetermined reasons following loss of power in one engine.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/24/1997
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1620
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City ATLANTIC OCEAN
Event State ATLANTIC OCEAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 00000
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1556 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 330
Weather Observation Facility ID MIA
Elevation of weather observation facility 11
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 125
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 25
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 1600
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 5
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 457
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 24 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1630
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:25PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N816Q
NTSB Number MIA97LA215
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model 65
Aircraft Series Identifier 65
Aircraft Serial Number LC-38
Certified Max Gross Weight 7700
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 7
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 23 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 2
Airframe Hours 4300
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name M R AIRCRAFT SALES AND RENTAL
Aircraft Owner Street Address 13354 NW 1ST STREET
Aircraft Owner City PLANTATION
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33325
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code TMB
Departure City MIAMI
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1501
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code MKJP
Destination City KINGSTON
Destination State OF
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --