20200123001719I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Cessna 208 · St. Thomas, VI · January 23, 2020

Date: January 23, 2020 · 09:07 local
Place: St. Thomas, VI
Airport: Cyril E. King Airport
Phase of flight: Takeoff: Climb Out
Operating rules: Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
Operator: 9CWA
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N394SF
Reported as: Cessna 208
Reported engine: Pratt & Whitney PT6A series
People aboard: 7
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0
Pilot’s certificate: Airline transport
Pilot’s flight hours: 5,305 total

N394SFRegistered now · Cessna 208S/N 20800394 · Built 2005 Airframe modelCessna 208 Engine modelPratt & Whitney PT6A seriesTurbo-prop

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Aircraft departed from stt airport runway 28 in the third leg of the day climbing out to 900FT banking left to 180°. 3MIN into the flight a loud explosion like sound was heard inside the engine followed by a hi rev sound. PIC shut down the engine and fuel supply, declared an emergency to ATC at 400FT and executed a successful water landing 3 miles south of stt. Onsite investigation found an engine oil leak in the engine front cowling coming from the gearbox section and damage to the right side float. The second discrepancy was due by the boat that transported the passengers back to land.

As the FAA filed it

AIRCRAFT DEPARTED FROM STT AIRPORT RUNWAY 28 IN THE THIRD LEG OF THE DAY CLIMBING OUT TO 900FT BANKING LEFT TO 180°. 3MIN INTO THE FLIGHT A LOUD EXPLOSION LIKE SOUND WAS HEARD INSIDE THE ENGINE FOLLOWED BY A HI REV SOUND. PIC SHUT DOWN THE ENGINE AND FUEL SUPPLY, DECLARED AN EMERGENCY TO ATC AT 400FT AND EXECUTED A SUCCESSFUL WATER LANDING 3 MILES SOUTH OF STT. ONSITE INVESTIGATION FOUND AN ENGINE OIL LEAK IN THE ENGINE FRONT COWLING COMING FROM THE GEARBOX SECTION AND DAMAGE TO THE RIGHT SIDE FLOAT. THE SECOND DISCREPANCY WAS DUE BY THE BOAT THAT TRANSPORTED THE PASSENGERS BACK TO LAND.