Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Key West, Florida 33040
Saturday, March 1, 2008 15:15 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After maneuvering in the local area for approximately 15 minutes, the pilot initiated a descent, at idle power, to return to the airport. As he leveled the airplane in the traffic pattern (over water), he advanced the throttle to increase power; however, the engine did not respond. The pilot attempted, unsuccessfully, to restart the engine, and then prepared for a forced landing to the water, approximately 6 miles off shore. After the airplane came to rest, the pilot egressed and entered the life raft he had in the airplane. The airplane sank after about 5 minutes and was not recovered. The pilot purchased the airplane new approximately 2 years prior to the accident and no recent maintenance had been performed. Fuel records indicated the airplane was last refueled approximately 1 month prior with 13.8 gallons of fuel. According to the pilot, he last flew the airplane approximately 2 to 3 weeks prior to the accident, and prior to the accident flight, he departed with "just under full fuel," approximately 20 gallons.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/1/2008
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1515
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Key West
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33040
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 243100N
Event Location Longitude 0812138W
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?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 15
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24581
NTSB Notification Source Southern Region C-ROC
NTSB Notification Date Mar 1 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 22 2008 1:29PM
User who most recently changed record lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office MIA FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N859MS
NTSB Number NYC08LA116
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Diamond Aircraft Industries
Aircraft Model DA 20
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number C0366
Certified Max Gross Weight 1764
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 88
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Robert Snider
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Big Pine Key
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33043
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 USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code MTH
Departure City Marathon
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1445
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code EYW
Destination City Key West
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 9 2008 11:51AM
User who most recently changed record muzd
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --