Conquest Air Cargo Convair C-131B plane crash
Off Miami, Florida, USA
Updated on
The Convair C-131 Samaritan operated by Conquest Air Cargo took off from Nassau, Bahamas, for a cargo flight to Miami, Florida, USA. 2 crewmembers were onboard. The plane was about 10 NM (18km) East of the coast of Florida when both engines failed forcing the crew to ditch the aircraft in the Atlantic ocean. One of the pilots floating in a life raft was lifted to a rescue helicopter, the other pilot was killed.
After taking off from Nassau, the plane climbed to the enroute altitude of 4500 feet (1400 meters). The plane was heading toward Opa-Locka Airport, Florida, USA. As the plane was at around 20 minutes from its destination, both engines failed and the aircraft began to lose altitude. The crew performed a ditching. Photos from the scene suggest the aircraft broke up after it hit the sea: the left-hand wing separated from the fuselage.
The First Officer survived the accident and was able to tell what happened. During the previous flight, the crew experienced trouble with the left-hand propeller control. However, situation came back to normal and the crew decided to go for the next flight. The crew took off and levelled off at 4500 ft, their cruise altitude. When they started to descent to 1500 feet, the right-hand engine failed. The crew shut the engine down. A short time later the left-hand engine also failed. The captain continued flying the aircraft while the first officer worked the related checklists. When they were getting too low and it became clear they had to ditch, the crew declared Mayday and braced for impact.
The Convair C-131 Samaritan was originally an American twin-engine military transport produced from 1954 to 1956 by Convair. It was the military version of the Convair CV-240 and CV-340 family of airliners.
