Status:	Final
Date:	Sunday 1 October 1978
Time:	17:54
Type:	Douglas R4D-6 (DC-3)
Operator:	Evergreen Air
Registration:	N74Z
MSN:	25954/14509
First flight:	1944
Crew:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Passengers:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Total:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Damaged beyond repair
Location:	200 km (125 mls) S off Fort Walton Beach, FL, U.S. (   Atlantic Ocean)
Phase:	En route (ENR)
Nature:	Unknown
Departure airport:	Miami International Airport, FL (MIA/KMIA), United States of America
Destination airport:	San Juan (unknown airport), Puerto Rico

Narrative:
The DC-3 transport plane ditched in the Gulf of Mexico when the pilot had become lost following electrical system failure.
The airplane ditched near the merchant marine steamship St. Mary.

PROBABLE CAUSE:
pilot in command - became lost/disoriented
miscellaneous acts,conditions - electrical failure
FACTOR:
miscellaneous acts,conditions - aircraft came to rest in water

Loss of situational awareness
Electrical system problem
Ditching

» NTSB
» St. Petersburg Times - Oct 2, 1978