MIA04FA119

The airline transport certificated pilot was flying passengers and a cameraman associated with a film production to film a fort on an island. During the filming, the pilot stated he switched fuel tanks, and noted that the left tank was full, and the right tank about 3/4 full. As the airplane approached the fort, the engine sputtered, and then regained full power. A minute or two later, the pilot indicated the engine lost all power, and after unsuccessfully trying to restart it, he ditched the airplane. The pilot and passengers were all able to exit the airplane except the cameraman, who tied himself to the seat with a rope prior to takeoff after the cargo door had been removed to facilitate filming. Attempts to free the cameraman prior to the airplane sinking were unsuccessful, and he drowned. A passenger noted that the right fuel tank fuel gauge was somewhere around the 1/4 mark, and bouncing as the airplane flew. Postaccident inspection of the airplane, recovered 17 days later from ocean waters, disclosed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunction.

History of flight

On August 14, 2004, about 1445 eastern daylight time, a Cessna U206B, N3800G, registered to and operated by Paradise Aviation, Inc, as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 business flight to film areas of the Dry Tortugas, ditched into the water in the vicinity of Paradise Key, in the Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The airline transport-rated pilot and three paying passengers, the film producer, film director, and assistant cameraman received minor injuries. One passenger, the cameraman, received fatal injuries. The airplane incurred substantial damage. The flight originated in Marathon, Florida, the same day, about 1230.

The pilot stated that the purpose of the flight was to transport persons to obtain movie footage of the islands in the Key West area. He further stated that he departed the Marathon airport with 4 passengers, and 20 minutes prior to the accident, while in cruise flight, he switched fuel tank in use from the right tank, to the left. At that time, he said that the fuel gauge showed the fuel quantity to be about 3/4 full in the right tank and full in the left tank. As he approached the Dry Tortugas Islands, he said that the engine sputtered, and then it regained full power. One to two minutes later, he said he noticed a strong smell of fuel or partially burned fuel in the cockpit, and seconds later the engine ceased operating. He said he was not able to restart the engine, so he established a glide and made a smooth water landing. The airplane began to sink and while helping to evacuate one passenger the pilot said he noticed that another passenger, the cameraman, was in his seat and was unharmed, but had failed to evacuate. He said he attempted to evacuate the passenger but was unsuccessful. He said he dove twice underwater, in an attempt to assist, but he was unsuccessful in freeing the passenger from the submerging airplane, adding that he believed that the passenger was entangled in the camera harness. The pilot further stated that he later learned from statements made by two of the surviving passengers, that the cameraman had tied himself with a rope to the seat and camera.

The film producer, who was seated in the front seat next to the pilot, stated that the takeoff was uneventful, and she had taken medicine to assist her in making the flight, and was only awake for about the first 10 minutes during the flight. She said that she awakened as the airplane approached the Dry Tortugas, and after having taken a couple of pictures of the "Fort" through the window with her personal camera, the engine ceased operating. She further stated that she asked the pilot twice what was wrong, and the next thing she knew they were in the water.

The film director stated that he was seated in the back of the airplane behind the pilot and the assistant cameraman. He said he met the pilot about a month earlier when he had been "scouting" for the movie, and that the pilot had told him that he was a pilot for a major airline. According to the director, he later stayed at the pilot's hotel and got to know the pilot, and had told the pilot that he wished to perform aerial photography of the Dry Tortugas. He said that he arranged for the pilot to fly his film crew and that the pilot asked that he be reimbursed $139 per hour for the cost of the airplane. The film director said he met both the pilot and owner of the airplane at the appointed time, and while preparing the airplane, the cameraman asked for the door to be taken off, and a cotton rope tied across his legs, as well as to the camera, so it would not fall from the airplane. He also stated that both the pilot and owner/operator of the airplane had been aware that the cameraman had been tied to a rope while seated in the airplane, and he had taken pictures of how the cameraman was tied to the airplane while on the ground before the engine was started. According to the film director, the initial part of the flight was uneventful. They flew to Key West, the Marquises Islands, and then on to Fort Jefferson. He said they flew around Fort Jefferson at about 500 feet, and on the second pass the engine sputtered and ceased operating. The engine restarted about 30 seconds later, operated for about 3 or 4 minutes, and then ceased operating. He said as the airplane glided, he thought the engine would restart but the pilot could not get it to operate, and the airplane impacted the water and sank.

The assistant cameraman, seated directly behind the pilot, stated that he arrived at the airport about 1245, prepared the camera, and coordinated with the cameraman. He further stated that the cameraman asked to have a rope tied around his waist and to the seat, even though there was a seatbelt available. After preparations had been made for the flight, he said they got to the end of the runway, the pilot completed items to check the airplane, and they took off about 1335. He said the takeoff and initial portion of the flight were normal, and from his position seated behind the pilot, the cameraman was seated next to him with the camera in his lap. As the flight proceeded they flew over the "Gulf side" of U.S. 1. crossed over to the "Atlantic" side to film an island, and then on to the Dry Tortugas. He said that while reaching for a canister of film he heard a strange sound, and saw the pilot reach for the power quadrant and push and pulled a red or orange lever, and then the engine operation seemed to operate normal again. During the flight he said he could only see the fuel gauges because the pilots body was blocking the other gauges from his view, and he noted that the right gauge's needle was rocking back and forth corresponding with the airplane's movement, from about a quarter tank to a half tank. He said that the left tank did not fluctuate but the needle indicated that it was full of fuel the whole time. Several minutes later he said he heard a sound similar to what he had heard earlier, just like the engine was "dying." He said it had been less than 5 minutes, since the previous engine sound and they had been flying around the island and was back in about the same position as when the engine had sounded strange the first time. The assistant cameraman further stated that when the engine ceased operating, the pilot pushed and pulled the same lever he had manipulated earlier, but was unable to restart the engine. He said that they soon impacted the water and everything came forward and there was a rush of water into the airplane. He unfastened his seatbelt, took a gulp of air, and was soon outside the airplane, and further stated that the cameraman said, "the rope", and he answered "cool dude, I got it", but the rope was ripped from his hand as the airplane submerged. He said he tried to dive to reach the rope and free the cameraman, but he could not reach it.

All three surviving passengers said that the pilot never briefed them during the emergency. They further stated that after the airplane impacted the water, it filled, and sank rapidly with the cameraman still tied to his seat by a rope.

The owner/operator of Paradise Aviation Inc., under which the accident airplane was registered, stated that the pilot had telephoned her requesting an aircraft to use for a photographic flight in the Key West area. She further stated that on the morning of the accident flight, the pilot arrived at the appointed time, presented copies of his identification, pilot's license, medical certificate, and airline identification. According to the owner/operator, based upon her qualifications and function as a flight instructor, she and the accident pilot conducting a preflight examination of the airplane, boarded the airplane, and flew together during which she gave the pilot an airplane checkout. She said that the accident pilot performed the checkout successfully and upon returning and securing the airplane, th