# NTSB CEN19FA271: Cessna U206, N5364Q, Hopedale, LA, August 18, 2019

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · Fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report
- Date: August 18, 2019, 13:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place: Hopedale, LA
- Coordinates: 29.816944, -89.27639 (estimated)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=29.8169&lon=-89.2764&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Enroute: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120)
- Highest injury: Fatal
- Injuries: 1 fatal, 2 serious
- Status: Completed
- Report: Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class: Class 3
- NTSB office: Central Region
- Parties: FAA FSDO
- NTSB case key (mKey): 100078
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CEN19FA271
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/100078/pdf
- NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=100078
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN19FA271

## Probable cause

The controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), resulting from the pilot’s failure to maintain proper altitude and continued flight into instrument meteorological conditions.

## Findings

NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause.

- [Personnel issues](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02060000): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna U206F, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02060000/cases.md?model=2073333), [All aircraft, 137 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02060000/cases.md)
- [Info processing/decision: decision making/judgment](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520): Personnel issues › Action/decision · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna U206F, 8 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520/cases.md?model=2073333), [All aircraft, 3,098 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520/cases.md)
- [Ceiling/visibility/precip: low ceiling](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03035010): Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena · Contributed to outcome (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna U206F, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03035010/cases.md?model=2073333), [All aircraft, 190 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03035010/cases.md)

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Enroute: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna U206F, 4 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120/sequence.md?model=2073333), [All aircraft, 1,074 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120/sequence.md)

## Analysis

The pilot and 2 passengers were returning from a fishing trip in the float equipped airplane. The flight path was over water. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed along the flight path and accident area. Both passengers reported that the airplane was flying low over the water beneath the clouds when it impacted the water. Only portions of the airplane wreckage were recovered, and the engine was not found. The available wreckage was examined, and no anomalies were found other than severe water impact damage. It is likely that the non-instrument rated pilot did not have a visible horizon, lost track of his altitude and descended below the clouds when the airplane impacted the water.

## Factual narrative

On August 18, 2019, about 1330 central daylight time, a Cessna 206 float-equipped airplane, N5364Q, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident offshore of Hopedale, Louisiana. The commercial pilot sustained fatal injuries and 2 passengers sustained serious injuries. The flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as part of a fishing lodge package. On the morning of the accident, the airplane departed from Barataria, Louisiana, about 0600, for a fishing location in the northern part of Chandeluer Sound. The fishing location was located about 29.946505 N -88.845796 W. There was another float airplane from Barataria (N7896S) at the same location. After a morning of fishing, the pilots of both airplanes started to prepare for a return to Barataria. According to the pilot of N7896S, the weather was starting to deteriorate with heavy rain. Both pilots waited about 45 minutes to an hour for the weather to get better. After seeing a break in the weather, the accident airplane (N5364Q) took off about 1300, heading about 240-degrees. N7896S followed about 2-miles behind and was in radio contact with the pilot of N5364Q. The pilot of N7896S encountered heavy rain and lost sight of N5364Q, and lost radio contact with the pilot of N5364Q. Upon returning to Barataria, the pilot of N7896S contacted authorities and a search began for N5364Q. The Coast Guard searched the area and found the pilot and 2 passengers of N5364Q. The pilot did not survive, and the 2 passengers were transported to a hospital. An autopsy on the pilot was performed by the New Orleans Forensic Center, St. Bernard Parish. The cause of death was drowning. Toxicology testing was performed by the Federal Aviation Administration Bioaeronautical Research Lab, Oklahoma, City, Oklahoma. The tests were negative for alcohol. A small amount of Naproxen, a pain medication, was detected. Weather data showed a thunderstorm cell in the immediate vicinity of the approximate accident site at 1330. The estimated flight path of the accident airplane was within a few miles of the thunderstorm cell. Satellite weather images showed cloud cover over the flight path and accident area. Both surviving passengers stated that the airplane was flying beneath low clouds before it impacted the water. Severe weather for several days after the accident precluded immediate location and recovery of the airplane wreckage. After the weather cleared, a 4-day sonar search for the airplane wreckage was conducted encompassing 82 square miles around the accident area. Only portions of the airplane wreckage were recovered, and the engine was not found. The available wreckage was examined, and no anomalies were found other than severe water impact damage.

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N5364Q](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N5364Q-2020-01-13), registration cancelled 2020-01-13, S/N U20603063, built 1975 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: Cessna U206 (F)
- Registry model: [Cessna U206F](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-u206f) (registry code 2073333) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Continental IO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (registry code 17032, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: U20603063
- Year built: 1975
- Airframe hours: 8881
- Engines: Continental IO-520-F 300 horsepower reciprocating
- Damage: Destroyed
- Flight: Personal, Part 91
- Operator: Ultra Light Flights LLC
- Registered owner: Ultra Light Flights LLC
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal
- Last inspection: Annual, February 10, 2019, 369 hours before
- Departed: N Chandeleur, KY
- Destination: Barataria, LA
- Equipment: Stall warning system

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Pilot; age 55; injuries: fatal; private, commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine sea, single-engine land; medical: class 2, without waivers/limitations; seat: left; flight hours: 950 total, 450 in this make and model, 30 in the last 90 days, 15 in the last 30 days, 3 in the last 24 hours

## Weather

- Conditions: Instrument (IMC), Day
- Lowest ceiling: 500 ft broken

## FAA reports on this event (1)

The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs).

- [Accident 20190818017799A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20190818017799A), Aug 18, 2019: Cessna U206F, Destroyed, 1 fatal. The aircraft was used for charter fishing trips. After flying to an island to fish weather began moving in, the pilot and passengers waited out the first storm…

## Other investigations on N5364Q (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB ANC13CA073](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC13CA073), Aug 5, 2013: Cessna U206F (N5364Q), Kokhanok, AK, substantial damage. Probable cause: The pilot’s selection of unsuitable terrain for takeoff, which resulted in a loss of control and collision with terrain.

## Docket (6 files)

The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 8, 2022, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=100078. 1.4 MB in all.

- Memorandum for the record information of pilot flying N7896S CEN19FA271 (item 1, PDF, 1 page, 138 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=13275854&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Memorandum%20for%20the%20Record%20Information%20of%20Pilot%20Flying%20N7896S%20CEN19FA271_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Memorandum for the record flight path and weather images over accident area CEN19FA270 (item 2, PDF, 2 pages, 450 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=13275637&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Memorandum%20for%20the%20Record%20Flight%20Path%20and%20Weather%20Images%20over%20Accident%20Area%20CEN19FA270_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Memorandum for the record passenger c skerlock statement summary CEN19FA271 (item 3, PDF, 1 page, 116 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=13275994&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Memorandum%20for%20the%20Record%20Passenger%20C%20Skerlock%20Statement%20Summary%20CEN19FA271_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Memorandum for the record passenger t skerlock statement summary CEN19FA271 (item 4, PDF, 1 page, 116 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=13275864&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Memorandum%20for%20the%20Record%20Passenger%20T%20Skerlock%20Statement%20Summary%20CEN19FA271_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Toxicology report CEN19FA271 (item 5, PDF, 1 page, 281 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=13276004&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Toxicology%20Report%20CEN19FA271_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Wreckage examination summary CEN19FA271 (item 6, PDF, 1 page, 265 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=13274511&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Wreckage%20Examination%20Summary%20CEN19FA271-Rel.pdf

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

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