Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Rafael Hernandez Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Caribbean Sea
Friday, September 18, 1998 14:28 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Two U.S. Customs Service airplanes collided in formation cruise flight while being evacuated from Borinquen, Puerto Rico, to Curacao, Dutch Antilles, due to an approaching hurricane. While in cruise flight at 6,500 ft. msl, N6305U maneuvered closer to the lead airplane, N6302W, to take some photographs. Several minutes later, N6305U's right side of the vertical stabilizer collided with the left side of the nose of N6302W. N6305U was ditched while on short final to an airstrip due to a lack of airplane controllability, while N6302W returned to Borinquen and landed without incident. Prior to departure, the crewmembers of both airplanes were directed to fly as a flight of two. Neither of the second-in-commands (SICs) of either airplane had any previous formation flying training, nor was it approved for the flight. Interviews with U.S. Customs personnel revealed that formation flight occurred, as did photographs taken from the SIC aboard N6305U during the accident flight. The U.S. Customs Service required two pilots to operate the airplane due to mission equipment installation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot-in-command of N6305U to maintain physical clearance from the other aircraft (N6302W). Contributing factors were the inadequate visual lookout of all four pilots involved.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/18/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1428 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | CARIBBEAN SEA |
| Event State | CARIBBEAN SEA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | RAFAEL HERNANDEZ AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BQN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 8 |
| Airport Elevation | 238 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| 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 | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1954 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 18 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1650 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6305U | N6302W |
| NTSB Number | ATL98GA127A | ATL98GA127B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Government Aircraft Fact (GAF) | Government Aircraft Fact (GAF) |
| Aircraft Model | N22S | N22S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | N22S | N22S |
| Aircraft Serial Number | F-160 | F-159 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9100 | 9100 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 5 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 2 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 4 1998 12:00AM | Aug 10 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 61 | 43 |
| Airframe Hours | 2983 | 3126 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | US CUSTOMS AVIATION OPNS DIV | U.S. CUSTOMS AVIATION OPS DIV |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1301 CONSTITUTION AVE NW 5303 | 1301 CONSTITUTION AVE NW 5303 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WASHINGTON | WASHINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DC | DC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20229 | 20229 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | US CUSTOMS SERVICE | U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | 543 BRAMON-RAMEY | 543 BROMON-RAMEY |
| Operator City | AGUADILLA | AGUADILLA |
| Operator State | PR | PR |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 00604 | 00604 |
| Operator Code | ||
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | 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) | Public Use | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BQN | BQN |
| Departure City | BORINQUEN | BORINQUEN |
| Departure State | PR | PR |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1330 | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NCC | NCC |
| Destination City | CURACAO | CURACAO |
| Destination State | OF | OF |
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 11:29AM | Jan 23 2001 11:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 | 8 |
| Runway Length | 3000 | 11701 |
| Runway Width | 50 | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |