Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Paradise Island Burkina Faso
Saturday, February 16, 2002 13:10 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On February 16, 2002 about 1310 eastern standard time, a Grumman G-73T, N103FB, operated by Chalk's Ocean Airlines, flight 509, as a 14 CFR Part 121 scheduled flight, impacted with the water while landing at Paradise Island, Bahamas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. A VFR flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged. The flight crew of two and four passengers reported no injuries. The flight had originated from Fort Lauderdale International Airport, Florida at 1200. According to the Captain's report, the first officer (FO) was at the controls at the time of the accident. During the approach the captain observed boat traffic along with waves in the landing area. The FO descended to just above the water, and started to "skip across [the water]..…reduced power and called for flaps up in a confused sea condition." The captain immediately responded by saying, "it's really rough here," and he instructed the FO to add power. The airplane landed in the water and became airborne again due to " ..…the sea condition..…flaps being at 30 degrees and being at partial engine power." The captain said that the "aircraft left the water in a nose high attitude and left wing low." The airplane re-contacted the water with the left float and left side the fuselage coming down first. After passing all the boat waves, the captain noticed that the "..…left float had been damaged and bent inwards towards the fuselage." The captain stated, "..…I should have exercised my pilot-in-command authority and should have either gone around or landed in calmer water." The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Civil Aviation, Nassau, Bahamas. Any further information may be obtained from: Director of Civil Aviation, Bahamas P. O. Box N-975 Nassau, N. P. Bahamas Phone: (242) 377-7117 This report is filed for informational purposes only and contains that information released by the Bahamian authorities.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/16/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1310
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Paradise Island
Event State --
Event Country BURKINA FASO
Zipcode of the event site 00000
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 250500N
Event Location Longitude 0771900W
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 KNAS
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 None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.16
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 6
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency Foreign
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source Witness
NTSB Notification Date Feb 19 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1000
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 8 2002 8:39AM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fort Lauderdale FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N130FB
NTSB Number MIA02WA063
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire --
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Grumman
Aircraft Model G-73T
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 704 SW 34th Street
Operator City Fort Lauderdale
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 33315
Operator Code FVYA
Owner has at least one certificate --
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 Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight International
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code KFLL
Departure City Fort Lauderdale
Departure State --
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code MYPI
Destination City Paradise Island
Destination State --
Destination Country BF
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 8 2002 8:39AM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --