Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Key West, Florida 33040
Saturday, August 14, 2004 14:51 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airline transport certificated pilot was flying passengers and a cameraman associated with a film production to film a fort on an island. During the filming, the pilot stated he switched fuel tanks, and noted that the left tank was full, and the right tank about 3/4 full. As the airplane approached the fort, the engine sputtered, and then regained full power. A minute or two later, the pilot indicated the engine lost all power, and after unsuccessfully trying to restart it, he ditched the airplane. The pilot and passengers were all able to exit the airplane except the cameraman, who tied himself to the seat with a rope prior to takeoff after the cargo door had been removed to facilitate filming. Attempts to free the cameraman prior to the airplane sinking were unsuccessful, and he drowned. A passenger noted that the right fuel tank fuel gauge was somewhere around the 1/4 mark, and bouncing as the airplane flew. Postaccident inspection of the airplane, recovered 17 days later from ocean waters, disclosed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for an undetermined reason during cruise flight, which resulted in the pilot ditching the airplane in ocean waters.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/14/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1451 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Key West |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33040 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 243718N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0825302W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EYW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 61 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 25 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 4 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21491 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Ranger, Everglades National Pa |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 14 2004 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 29 2007 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Miami, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3800G |
| NTSB Number | MIA04FA119 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | U206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | U206-0800 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1793.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Carol Collins |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9850 Overseas Highway |
| Aircraft Owner City | Marathon |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33050 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MTH |
| Departure City | Marathon |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EYW |
| Destination City | Key West |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 12 2007 1:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |