Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Elliott Key, Florida 33033
Sunday, July 20, 2014 14:46 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 20, 2014, at 1446 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N737TP, operated by Dean International Inc., was destroyed when it collided with the Atlantic Ocean following a vertical descent near Elliott Key, Florida. The student pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight, which departed Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport (TMB), Miami, Florida, about 1210. The solo instructional flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 141.
According to the student pilot's flight instructor, the purpose of the flight was for the student pilot to remain in the traffic pattern at TMB and complete 3 takeoffs and landings. The airplane was dispatched at 1140, and the school was notified of the accident by a 911 operator at 1446. According to preliminary information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the airplane remained in the traffic pattern for 15 minutes before it departed the airport traffic area.
Four witnesses on the east side of Elliott Key provided statements and their summaries of the events were consistent throughout. Two witnesses said their attention was drawn to the sound of the airplane's engine. They said the engine was "wide open" and at "full power" as the airplane descended vertically out of view on the west side of the key, and the sound of impact was heard. Two witnesses said the nose of the airplane "pitched up" momentarily before the airplane descended vertically at full power. Each witness described the airplane's descent as "straight down" with no rotation of the wings.
The wreckage was recovered to and examined at Ft. Pierce, Florida on July 25, 2014, and all major components were accounted for at examination. The engine compartment, instrument panel, cockpit, cabin area, wings and empennage were completely destroyed by impact and fragmented into very small pieces. The largest sections were the vertical fin, horizontal stabilizer, elevator and landing-gear support structure with landing gear attached. The engine was still attached to the instrument panel area by wires and cables. Control cable continuity was established from the cockpit area to the rudder and elevator. Cable continuity was traced to the ailerons through several cable and bellcrank breaks, all of which displayed failures consistent with overload separation.
The engine was separated from the main wreckage and displayed significant impact damage. The propeller was attached, and both blades displayed similar twisting, curling, and aft bending. The starter displayed rotational scoring on its face. The carburetor was destroyed by impact. All engine accessories were separated by impact except the right magneto. The crankshaft was rotated by hand at the propeller flange and continuity was established through the powertrain and valvetrain to the accessory section. Thumb compression was confirmed on all cylinders using the thumb method. Neither magneto would produce spark when tested due to salt water immersion and corrosion. Disassembly of the magnetos revealed no visual evidence of mechanical anomaly.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/20/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1446 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Elliott Key |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33033 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 252617N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801200W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 1458 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 287 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HST |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KHST 201858Z AUTO 09008KT 10SM FEW200 33/24 |
| 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 | Miami-Dade County Police Depar |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 28 2014 4:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N737TP |
| NTSB Number | ERA14LA346 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17269665 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 4 2014 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 86 |
| Airframe Hours | 18366 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LILY AVIATION CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MIAMI |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 331753515 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Dean International Inc |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | MIAMI |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 331753515 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TMB |
| Departure City | MIAMI |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1210 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | TMB |
| Destination City | MIAMI |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 28 2014 4:55PM |
| 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 | -- |