Christiansted - Miami

On March 28, 1981 at 03:55 PM, Christiansted - Miami experienced a crash involving Douglas C-54 Skymaster, operated by Caribbean Air Cargo, with the event recorded near Christiansted-Henry E. Rohlsen (ex Alexander Hamilton) All US Virgin Islands.

The flight was categorized as cargo and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

3 people were known to be on board, 1 fatalities were recorded, 2 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 33.3%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. After takeoff from Christiansted-Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, while climbing on a cargo flight to Miami, the crew declared an emergency after the engine n°3 caught fire. The crew was cleared to return for an emergency landing, was able to extinguish the fire and to feather the propeller. Then the crew encountered controllability problems and the captain decided to ditch the aircraft few km offshore. Two crew members were rescued while the copilot drowned. The aircraft sank about 45 minutes later.

Aircraft reference details include registration N98AS, MSN 10431, year of manufacture 1944.