Belize - New Orleans

On September 17, 1985 at 12:55 PM, Belize - New Orleans experienced a crash involving Swearingen SA226T Merlin III, operated by Air Parcel Express, with the event recorded near Grand Isle Louisiana.

The flight was categorized as cargo and the reported phase was flight at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

1 people were known to be on board, 1 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

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

The listed crash cause is technical failure. A distress message was received from the pilot stating he was 100 miles south of Grand Isle, LA, and had lost an engine and was unable to maintain altitude. A second message was received shortly afterwards stating that the aircraft was at 1,500 feet and the pilot was preparing to ditch the aircraft. No further contacts and no ELT signals were heard. The aircraft wreckage has not been located.

Aircraft reference details include registration N3RB, MSN T-214, year of manufacture 1971.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 29.2366°, -89.9873°.