ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 248291
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| Date: | Wednesday 24 February 2021 |
| Time: | 11:04 |
| Type: |  Lancair 320 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N670BS |
| MSN: | 09-320-QB |
| Year of manufacture: | 1991 |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-320-E1A |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Atlantic Ocean, off Boca Raton, FL -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Spruce Creek Airport, FL (7FL6) |
| Boca Raton Public Airport, FL (BCT/KBCT) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On February 24, 2021, about 1104 eastern standard time, radar contact was lost with an experimental amateur-built Lancair 320, N670BS, while the airplane was over the Atlantic Ocean about 16 nautical miles southeast of Boca Raton, Florida. The airplane wreckage and the pilot were not subsequently located. As a result, the airplane was presumed to have impacted the Atlantic Ocean and sustained substantial damage, and the pilot was presumed to be fatally injured. The flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight.
The pilot was operating a cross-country flight in visual flight rules (VFR) weather conditions. About 10 miles from the destination airport, the pilot contacted the air traffic control tower and reported the airplane’s location and altitude and his intention to land. The controller advised the pilot to report entering a left downwind for the active runway, which the pilot acknowledged. No further communications were received from the pilot or, nor were any made by the controller. Shortly after the pilot’s last transmission, the airplane made a gradual turn to the right and then back to the left, and the airplane then continued on a constant heading with a gradual descent. About 4 minutes later, the airplane passed the destination airport, which the controller did not notice, and the airplane continued in a gradual descent until tracking data ended. At that time, the airplane was over the Atlantic Ocean about 16 miles southeast of the destination airport.
Family members reported the airplane overdue 2 days later, after which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an alert notification. Search and rescue operations, which were coordinated by the US Coast Guard, ensued. The airplane and pilot were not located despite a 3.5-day search.
Search and rescue operations might have been initiated sooner if the controller at the destination airport had followed the track of the airplane as it transitioned through the controlled airspace. If the controller had followed the airplane’s track, he would likely have attempted to contact the pilot and initiated procedures for search and rescue operations after losing contact with the airplane over the ocean. Further, the pilot had not filed a VFR flight plan, which is the primary tool the FAA uses to initiate search and rescue operations for an overdue airplane operating under VFR. Such flight plans are not required by the FAA. However, for those VFR flight plans that are filed, the FAA will initiate action if the flight plan is not closed or the airplane is not confirmed to have successfully landed beginning 30 minutes after the estimated time of arrival indicated on the flight plan.
Because the airplane could not be examined and no pilot autopsy or toxicology could be performed, the investigation was unable to determine the events that led to the airplane’s impact with water.
Probable Cause: The airplane’s impact with water for reasons that could not be determined.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://cw34.com/news/local/faa-issues-alert-for-missing-plane-off-the-coast-of-boca-raton
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=102682
Location
Images:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Feb-2021 00:25 | Geno | Added |
| 27-Feb-2021 06:15 | gerard57 | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 27-Feb-2021 06:19 | gerard57 | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport] |
| 27-Feb-2021 07:22 | gerard57 | Updated [Destination airport] |
| 01-Mar-2021 01:16 | Captain Adam | Updated [Registration, Cn, Total fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 19-Jul-2021 14:06 | aaronwk | Updated [Date, Time, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 16-Aug-2023 13:36 | Captain Adam | Updated [[Date, Time, Source, Embed code, Narrative]] |
| 19-Aug-2023 16:39 | harro | Updated [[[Date, Time, Source, Embed code, Narrative]]] |
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