The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

A PILOT’S failure to maintain control of his plane was the probable cause of a crash that killed him and two others in Eleuthera last year, according to a new report by the Air Accident Investigation Department.

Three American men died on June 5, 2018 when their Cessna 421B plane crashed shortly after departing the Rock Sound International Airport heading to Ft Pierce, Florida. The accident was not survivable because “of the high speed, high angle impact with trees and the terrain and the intensity of the post-crash fire,” the AAID said.

The plane crashed in a heavily wooded area that was not easily accessible. First responders and rescue personnel encountered difficulty finding the wreckage. The fire destroyed 80 percent of the plane, hindering the investigative efforts of the AAID.

The pilot had the requisite credentials to operate the plane and investigators do not believe the crash was the consequence of any equipment malfunction. 

“Circumstances contributing to the failure to maintain control are undetermined,” investigators said. “Evidence exists to demonstrate the aircraft was not producing full power at the time it lost control; the reasons for the reduced power are unknown. It could not be determined why the fuel selector was positioned to the auxiliary tank and not the main tank as required by manufacturer’s recommendation. Critical evidence was destroyed in the post impact fire.”

Investigators said: “The right wing was the first to make contact with trees, followed by the right fuselage which then impacted the ground and created a crater approximately 12 inches deep and 10 feet long by five feet wide. The aircraft travelled approximately 50 feet from the initial point of contact with the ground, coming to rest in an upward incline in trees.”

The crash is one of several aircraft incidents the AAID has investigated in the last year, reports concerning which were released this week.

In another incident on February 22, 2018, a Cirrus N325TE was involved in an incident that forced the pilot to execute an emergency landing on a dirt road near Deep Water Cay Airport, Grand Bahama. The pilot was not hurt. Investigators determined the probable cause was “engine malfunction related to the lack of oil pressure to the bearings of the connecting rods and the crankshaft journals, which increased operating temperatures.” The aircraft had departed Pompano Beach, Florida and was en route to Marsh Harbour.

The AAID also reported on two runway excursions in Andros and Eleuthera last year. In both cases, no one was injured.