Central America

The commercial pilot and three passengers were making a personal cross-country flight over ocean waters in the MU-2B airplane. During cruise flight at flight level (FL) 240, the airplane maintained the same relative heading, airspeed, and altitude for about 2.5 hours before radar contact was lost. While the airplane was in flight, a significant meteorological information notice was issued that warned of frequent thunderstorms with tops to FL440 in the accident area at the accident time. Satellite imagery showed cloud tops in the area were up to FL400. Moderate or greater icing conditions and super cooled large drops (SLD) were likely near or over the accident area at the accident time. Although the wreckage was not located for examination, the loss of the airplane's radar target followed by the identification of debris and a fuel sheen on the water below the last radar target location suggests that the airplane entered an uncontrolled descent after encountering adverse weather and impacted the water. Before beginning training in the airplane about 4 months before the accident, the pilot had 21 hours of multi engine experience accumulated during sporadic flights over 9 years. Per a special federal aviation regulation, a pilot must complete specific ground and flight training and log a minimum of 100 flight hours as pilot-in-command (PIC) in multi engine airplanes before acting as PIC of a MU-2B airplane. Once the pilot began training in the airplane, he appeared to attempt to reach the 100-hour threshold quickly, flying about 50 hours in 1 month. These 50 hours included about 40 hours of long, cross-country flights that the flight instructor who was flying with the pilot described as "familiarization flights" for the pilot and "demonstration flights" for the airplane's owner. The pilot successfully completed the training required for the MU-2B, and at the time of the accident, he had accumulated an estimated 120 hours of multi engine flight experience of which 100 hours were in the MU-2B. Although an MU-2B instructor described the pilot as a good, attentive student, it cannot be determined if his training was ingrained enough for him to effectively apply it in an operational environment without an instructor present. Although available evidence about the pilot's activities suggested he may not have obtained adequate restorative sleep during the night before the accident, there was insufficient evidence to determine the extent to which fatigue played a role in his decision making or the sequence of events.The pilot's last known weather briefing occurred about 8 hours before the airplane departed, and it is not known if the pilot obtained any updated weather information before or during the flight. Sufficient weather information (including a hazardous weather advisory provided by an air traffic control broadcast message about 25 minutes before the accident) was available for the pilot to expect convective activity and the potential for icing along the accident flight's route; however, there is no evidence from the airplane's radar track or the pilot's communications with air traffic controllers that he recognized or attempted to avoid the convective conditions or exit icing conditions.

The airplane departed Playa Baracoa Airport at 0638LT on a training flight and continued to the southwest. En route, it impacted the slope of Mt Loma de la Pimienta located about six km north of San Cristóbal, province of Artemisa. The aircraft was destroyed and all eight crew members were killed. Owned by Aerogaviota, the airplane was operated by the Cuban Air Force (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias) under flight code FAR1436.

Pilot advised that upon making his approach to land at Cat Cay (MYCC), on short final he experienced an unexpected accelerated sink rate. To compensate for the sink rate he increased the pitch of the aircraft. While going over the threshold, a slight impact was felt as the landing gear came into contact with the seawall. He flew the aircraft until it came to a stop about 600 feet down the runway. No injuries were sustained, aircraft received substantial damage.

While overflying the Yucatán Province, en route from Monterrey to Cancún, the pilot informed ATC that he was low of fuel and requested the permission to divert to Chichén Itzá Airport for an emergency landing. While approaching the airfield by night, the single engine aircraft descended into trees and crashed few km from the airport. The airplane was destroyed and there was no fire. All five occupants were injured.

The aircraft was flying from St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands to Virgin Gorda (VIJ) in the British Virgin Islands. There were eight passengers on board, together with the pilot. It was the pilot’s eleventh flight of the day, and his fourth flight to Virgin Gorda. All these flights were short, with the longest flight being about 40 minutes duration and the shortest just a few minutes. The flight from St Thomas to Virgin Gorda took 35 minutes. The weather in Virgin Gorda was excellent with a light easterly wind and little cloud. The pilot commenced his approach to Virgin Gorda using his usual turning and configuration points. The aircraft touched down normally on runway 03 and the pilot retracted the flaps before applying the brakes. The brakes responded, although the pilot commented that the right brake did not seem to respond as positively as he expected. The pilot reapplied the brakes but the left brake pedal “flopped to the floor”. Judging he had insufficient room to abort the landing, the pilot continued to pump the brakes which he did not consider to be responding. He shut down the engines before the aircraft left the paved surface, struck signage and then a low wall before coming to rest on a bank. The pilot vacated the aircraft through the side window and then opened the main door to allow the passengers to exit the aircraft. None of the occupants was injured. The aircraft was extensively damaged.

The twin engine airplane was involved in a smuggling flight within Mexico and was carrying three people. In unclear circumstances, the pilot attempted a belly landing in a swampy area located in El Sacrificio, State of Campeche. The wreckage was found by local authorities few hours later and no trace of the occupant was found or the load was found. The registration N633D is attributed to a Piper PA-31 with MSN 31-7852098 which was not involved in this accident. Thus, it was confirmed by Mexican and US Authorities that the registration was false.

Following an uneventful positioning flight by night from Chetumal, the crew was cleared to land on runway 33 at Toluca Airport. Upon touchdown, the airplane went out of control and veered off runway to the right. While contacting soft grounf, the airplane lost its undercarriage and came to rest in a grassy area. All four occupants evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The single engine airplane departed Tayoltita Airfield around 0900LT on a charter flight to Durango, carrying nine passengers and one pilot. Twelve minutes into the flight, the pilot encountered engine problems and declared an emergency. Unable to maintain a safe altitude, he attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft crashed in the bed of the Piaxtla River. The wreckage was found about 16 km northeast of Tayoltita Airfield (N 24° 11' 2.65" W 105° 47' 12.57''). The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and there was no fire. Three passengers were killed and seven other occupants were injured.

The aircraft, a Rockwell Sabreliner 75A (NA-265-80 version) departed Celaya-Capitán Rogelio Castillo Airport shortly before 0700LT on a short flight to Santiago de Querétaro without any flight plan and with an unknown number of people on board. At 0731LT, the crew contacted the destination airport and elected to land about seven minutes later. After landing on runway 27, the crew was instructed to vacate via taxiway for the apron but the aircraft continued, veered off runway after a distance 800 metres, impacted a rocky wall, lost its nose gear and came to rest. When the rescuers arrived on the scene, there was nobody as the occupants left the airplane and disappeared. It appears the flight was illegal and it is believed that the aircraft was stolen at Celaya Airport.

The aircraft departed Cancún on a regular schedule flight to Mexico City, carrying 139 passengers and five crew members. The flight was uneventful. Following an unstabilized approach, the aircraft landed on runway 05L at an excessive speed. After touchdown, severe vibrations occurred when the left main gear collapsed after a course of 1,097 metres. The airplane slid for 980 metres before coming to rest. All 144 occupants evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.