Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bimini Burkina Faso
Saturday, December 22, 2001 11:18 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On December 22, 2001, at 1118 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 205, N55VX, ditched near the coast of Bimini, Bahamas. The personal flight was conducted by the private pilot under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged; the pilot and passenger were not injured. The flight originated from Marathon Key, Florida. According to the pilot, he was on a short flight from Marathon Key to Great Harbor, Bahamas and back to Kendall Tamiami Executive airport. The pilot stated when he took off from Marathon Key Airport he had 5 hours of fuel in the airplane. The trip to Great Harbor from Marathon was estimated at 1hour 15 minutes. After take-off from Great harbor, Bahamas, while in cruise flight at approximately 4500 feet, the engine started to sputter. Shortly after the engine sputter, the propeller stopped. After unsuccessfully trying to restart the engine, the pilot radioed mayday on 121.5. The pilot then ditched the airplane near the coast of Bimini. The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the government of the Bahamas. Any further information may be obtained from: Director of Civil Aviation P.O. Box N-975 Nassau, N.P., Bahamas Telephone: (809) 377-7281 This report is for information purposes only and contains only information released by the Bahamian Government.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/22/2001
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1118
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Bimini
Event State --
Event Country BURKINA FASO
Zipcode of the event site 000000
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
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 --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID TMB
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions --
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 60
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.2
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency Foreign
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source FA A FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Dec 26 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 615
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 28 2001 9:10AM
User who most recently changed record PREJ
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Miami

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N55VX
NTSB Number ATL02WA022
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire --
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model C205
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number --
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name --
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? --
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? --
Operator Street Address P.O. Box 802
Operator City Marthon
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 33050
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code MYGB
Departure City Great Harbor
Departure State --
Departure Country BF
Departure Time 1713
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code TMB
Destination City Miami
Destination State i
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 28 2001 9:11AM
User who most recently changed record PREJ
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --