Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Gulf Of Mexico
Thursday, October 9, 1997 12:20 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated the weather was 'good' for most of the flight; however, he encountered some isolated showers, and had to descend from 5,000 to 2,500 to maintain VFR conditions. Also, he had to deviate from his route about 5 nautical miles, and had encountered a wind from the north of 45 mph for about 20 nautical miles. He stated that he was 3 hours 45 minutes into the flight and 120 nautical miles from his destination when the airplane's engine lost power. The pilot could not contact ATC by radio directly, so he relayed information via another airplane that he was having engine problems. ATC radar identified his location as being 100 nautical miles from Key West. While descending to ditch in the water, the engine restarted, and the pilot was able to climb to 4,500 feet, but was not able to maintain altitude. He flew for about another 40 nautical miles until he saw a military airplane flying in circles and a freighter on the surface. He ditched in the water, the freighter passed him by, and the military airplane kept circling. He got into his raft, the airplane sank, and after about 20 minutes, the pilot was rescued by a United States Coast Guard aircraft about 60 nautical miles from Key West. The airplane was never recovered. The winds at Key West about the time of the accident were from 080 degrees at 9 gusting 18 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

loss of engine power for undetermined reason(s), which resulted in a forced landing (ditching) at sea.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/9/1997
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1220
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City GULF OF MEXICO
Event State GULF OF MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 00000
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 10
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 110
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1161
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 9 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1300
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:37PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7198D
NTSB Number MIA98LA008
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-18A-150
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-18A-150
Aircraft Serial Number 18-5666
Certified Max Gross Weight 1800
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Aug 30 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 30
Airframe Hours 24091
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SEASHORE ADVERTISING CORP.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 7501 PEMBROKE RD. BOX 14
Aircraft Owner City HOLLYWOOD
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33023
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) Positioning
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code MMUN
Departure City CANCUN
Departure State OF
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code AWO
Destination City KEY WEST
Destination State FL
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
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 --