Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Benjamin Rivera Noriega Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Culebra, Puerto Rico 00775
Sunday, October 6, 2013 6:05 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On October 6, 2013, about 0605 Atlantic standard time, a Britten-Norman BN-2A-8, N909GD, operated by Air Charter Inc., doing business as Air Flamenco, was presumed destroyed when it impacted water about 7 miles southwest of the Benjamin Rivera Noriega Airport (TJCP), Culebra, Puerto Rico. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight that departed the Antonio Rivera Rodriquez Airport (TJVQ), Vieques, Puerto Rico, about 0545. The on-demand air taxi cargo flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135.
According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the pilot originally departed from Culebra about 0500, and flew to Ceiba, Puerto Rico, to pick up a load of newspapers. He then flew to Vieques without incident, and was returning to Culebra at the time of the accident. After the airplane became overdue, a search was conducted by the operator and U.S. Coast Guard personnel. The pilot, small fragments of the fuselage, and the nose gear were subsequently recovered from the water near an area containing a fuel/oil slick.
Initial review of maintenance records revealed that the airplane was equipped with two Lycoming O-540-E4C5, 260-horsepower engines, and had undergone a 100-hour inspection on September 19, 2013.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/6/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 605 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Culebra |
| Event State | PUERTO RICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00775 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 181500N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0652260W |
| Event Location Airport | Benjamin Rivera Noriega |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TJCP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 225 |
| Airport Elevation | 49 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 553 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TIST |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 23 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dawn |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern C-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2013 12:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N909GD |
| NTSB Number | ERA14LA007 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BRITTEN-NORMAN |
| Aircraft Model | BN-2A-8 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 239 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6601 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 10 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 19 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 22575 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIR CHARTER INC DBA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 224 |
| Aircraft Owner City | CULEBRA |
| Aircraft Owner State | PR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 00775 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AIR CHARTER INC DBA |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 224 |
| Operator City | CULEBRA |
| Operator State | PR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 00775 |
| Operator Code | UOIA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | UOIA831U |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TJVQ |
| Departure City | Vieques |
| Departure State | PR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 545 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TJCP |
| Destination City | Culebra |
| Destination State | PR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2013 12:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |