Cessna 402C accident near St. Thomas, February 8, 1997
On February 8, 1997 at about 11:32 pm local time, a Cessna 402C, registered N318AB, was destroyed in an accident near St. Thomas. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 2 people were killed and 3 people had minor injuries. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The failure of the pilot to maintain altitude while making a visual approach at night over water in black hole conditions resulting in the aircraft descending and crashing into the sea. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the pilot and operator to use all available air traffic control and navigational facilities, and the FAA Principle Operations Inspector's inadequate surveillance of the operation.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 8, 1997 · about 11:32 pm local time
- Place
- St. Thomas
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 2 people were killed and 3 people had minor injuries.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 402C · all 402Cs on the register
- Registration
- N318AB · no longer on the register · serial 402C0318
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
As the flight made a visual approach to the airport from the south over the sea, at night, the pilot changed his navigation radio from the VOR to the ILS system for runway 10 and lost DME reading from the VOR located on a hill north of the localizer course. The localizer showed the flight was south of the localizer course, and without DME from the VOR the pilot believed he was much closer to the island and the airport than the aircraft actually was. As the pilot attempted to make visual contact with the airport and maintain clearance from the hills he allowed the aircraft to descend and crash into the sea about 3 miles southwest of the airport. The pilot had not filed a FAA flight plan for the scheduled commuter flight. The pilot had been flying the route for 5 days and had no previous experience in the area. The pilot reported he had no mechanical malfunctions with the aircraft systems, flight controls, or engines. No FAA Operations inspectors had conducted surveillance on the company's flight operations in the Caribbean since service had begun in December 1996.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; multi-engine sea; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 13,000 hours in all; 9,000 in this make and model; 290 in the last 90 days; 103 in the last 30 days; 11,500 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 16,085 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, February 1, 1997; 30 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 7,210 lb
- Seats: 10
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Continental TSIO-520-VB (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Air Sunshine, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: STX St. Croix at 11:15 pm
- Destination: STT
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 040° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 2,000 ft
- Temperature: 79°F (26°C), dew point 72°F (22°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 11:45 pm from STT, 4 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 2 | 2 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N318AB the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.