TolAir Services

Douglas DC-3

The captain stated that the accident flight was a return flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, after delivering U.S. Mail. The airplane was empty of cargo at the time of the accident. The first officer was flying the airplane. The takeoff roll and rotation at 84 knots was uneventful until about 100 feet above the ground when the gear was called out to be retracted. At that time, the left engine's rpm dropped from 2,700 to 1,000. He communicated to the first officer that he would be assuming control of the airplane. He then proceeded with verifying that the left engine had failed. Once confirmed, he proceeded with the failed engine check list and feathering the propeller. They advised air traffic control (ATC) of the situation and informed them that they were returning to land. The airplane would not maintain altitude and the airspeed dropped to about 75 knots. The captain stated that he knew the airplane would not make it back to the airport. Instructions were given to the two passengers to don their life vests and prepared for a ditching. The captain elected to perform a controlled flight into the water. All onboard managed to exit the airplane through the cockpit overhead escape hatch onto the life raft as the airplane remained afloat. About ten minutes later the airplane sank nose first straight down. The airplane came to rest at the bottom of the ocean, in about 100 feet of water. The airplane was not recovered. Underwater photos provided by the operator showed the nose and cockpit area caved in, the left engine's propeller was in the feathered position, and the right engine's propeller was in a low pitch position.

Beechcraft G18S

At 1136 AST, the twin engine airplane departed San Juan, PR, on a flight to St Vincent. About 1208 AST, the pilot contacted ATC and indicated that he would like to divert to St Thomas. He informed the controller that he had 'feathered' the left engine due to loss of the left engine cowling, but he did not declare an emergency. He requested wind information for St Thomas, then at about 1613 AST, he changed his destination to Roosevelt Roads, PR. At 1120 AST, the pilot reported that the airplane was losing about 300'/min, then about 1 minute later, he said he was going to attempt an engine restart, and that the airplane was getting close to the water. A short time later, he informed ATC that he was not going to make it to shore. The pilot acknowledged info that search and rescue personnel were responding, then there was not further contact with the airplane. The airplane was located about 6 miles east of Roosevelt Roads NAS, but the pilot was not found. Review of weight and balance info revealed the pilot did not follow written procedures, and that the airplane exceeded the maximum authorized gross weight for take off. Flight crews had been informed of a communique from the manufacturer that there was no need to shut down an engine and feather the propeller unless engine performance or a major vibration problem confirmed the need.