Beechcraft 65 N816Q

Summary

On 24 July 1997 at about 20:20 local time, a Beechcraft 65 registered N816Q was involved in an accident near Atlantic Ocean. 5 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 July 1997 at 20:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Atlantic Ocean

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Beechcraft 65

Registration

N816Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Miami → Kingston

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA97LA215

Nobody was injured.

Failure of the aircraft to maintain altitude for undetermined reasons following loss of power in one engine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

About 1 hour after departure and 15 minutes after reaching the cruising altitude of 9,000 feet, the left engine quit. The flight crew feathered the left propeller and turned toward the closest airport which was 80 miles away. The aircraft would not maintain altitude and entered a 500 foot per minute descent. About 20 minutes after engine failure the aircraft was ditched in the ocean about 50 miles from the closest airport. The flight crew and passengers were rescued the following morning and the aircraft was not recovered. The second pilot and owner of the aircraft stated the aircraft was about 90 pounds over the maximum allowable weight at the time of departure. The previous owner of the aircraft stated that both engines had exceeded the recommended overhaul time by about 450 flight hours.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.