Dade-Collier

The single engine airplane landed last October at Dade-Collier Airport, in the center of the Everglades National Park, following a flight from Sancti Spíritus, Cuba. The pilot defected Cuba and landed safely in the US. On November 14, in unclear circumstances, maybe while being transferred to Opa Locka Airport, the airplane crashed in a marshy area located 25 km west of Opa Locka Airport. Both occupants were uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The pilot stated that the landing on runway 27 had initially been without incident. During the landing rollout, while the engines were in reverse and brakes were being applied, one of several deer which had entered the airport property, crossed the runway, and impacted the airplane's nose wheel. The impact threw the deer into the left propeller, and the propeller was detached and it punctured the fuselage.

The twin engine airplane was engaged in an illegal flight, carrying a load of marijuana. While flying at low height by night in the vicinity of Dade-Collier Airport, the airplane struck trees and crashed. The passenger was seriously injured and the pilot disappeared and was not found.

The airplane was dispatched at Dade-Collier Airport for a local training flight, carrying one instructor and four pilots under supervision. During the takeoff roll on runway 09/27, the pilot-in-command started the rotation when the instructor shut down the left engine to simulate an engine failure. The airplane rolled to the left, causing the left wing to struck the ground then nosed down and struck the runway surface. The nose gear was torn off and the aircraft nose and cockpit section was almost destroyed. All five occupants were injured, two of them seriously.