Treasure Cay Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Treasure Cay Burkina Faso
Sunday, July 13, 2003 15:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-04/03. On July 13, 2003, about 1530 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 402C, N314AB, registered to Tropical International Airlines Inc., and operated by Air Sunshine Inc., as Air Sunshine flight 527, was ditched in the Atlantic Ocean about 7.35 nautical miles west-northwest of Treasure Cay Airport (MYAT), Treasure Cay, Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, after the in-flight failure of the right engine. Two of the nine passengers sustained no injuries, five passengers and the pilot sustained minor injuries, and one adult and one child passenger died after they evacuated the airplane. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was being operated under the provisions 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 as a scheduled international passenger commuter flight from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to MYAT. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on a visual flight rules flight plan.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the in-flight failure of the right engine and the pilot’s failure to adequately manage the airplane’s performance after the engine failed. The right engine failure resulted from inadequate maintenance that was performed by Air Sunshine’s maintenance personnel during undocumented maintenance. Contributing to the passenger fatalities was the pilot’s failure to provide an emergency briefing after the right engine failed.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/13/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1530
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Treasure Cay
Event State --
Event Country BURKINA FASO
Zipcode of the event site 00000
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 264554N
Event Location Longitude 0773106W
Event Location Airport Treasure Cay Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID MYAT
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 8.45
Degrees magnetic from airport 267
Airport Elevation 11
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1600 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 267
Weather Observation Facility ID MYAT
Elevation of weather observation facility 11
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 64
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 11.51
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.08
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 2
Injury Total Minor 6
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 8
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20081
NTSB Notification Source FAA SE Reg Com Ctr
NTSB Notification Date Jul 13 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1545
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 18 2006 3:52PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office AAI-100

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N314AB
NTSB Number MIA03FA141
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 402C
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 402C0413
Certified Max Gross Weight 7210
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/Foreign Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 10
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Jul 8 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 24.1
Airframe Hours 17589
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Tropical International Airlines, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. Box 22626
Aircraft Owner City Fort Lauderdale
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33335
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Air Sunshine, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address Luis Munox Marin Int'l Airport, Rm. 149G, 2 Floor
Operator City San Juan
Operator State PR
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 00937
Operator Code RSHA
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code KFLL
Departure City FORT LAUDERDALE
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1427
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code MYAT
Destination City Treasure Cay
Destination State --
Destination Country BF
Specific Phase of Flight Descent - uncontrolled
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Oct 5 2004 3:30PM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --