MIA03LA061 · Piper PA-23-250

On February 17, 2003, about 0859, eastern standard time, the accident airplane, N54835, departed Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport, Miami, Florida, and was later reported as not having arrived at its destination, Bimini, Bahamas. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed in the area at the time, and a visual flight rules flight plan had been filed. Search and rescue assets later discovered an oil sheen and light airplane related debris, specific to the missing airplane, floating in the Atlantic Ocean, in the vicinity of geographic position 25 degrees 29 minutes north latitude, 079 degrees 58 minutes west longitude, 8 miles east of the Miami Harbor Entrance, Miami, Florida. The NTSB evaluated radar and other weather data, as well as radar track data for the flight, and the showed that after departure the accident airplane climbed to 4,500 feet, where it remained for about 45 seconds and at 0906:37, began a slow descent. The descent continued until the airplane was lost from radar, approximately 4 minutes later. The pilot of N54835 had received weather information for his intended route of flight from the Miami Automated International Flight Service Station (MIA-AIFSS) on five separate occasions before departing Tamiami. During the pilot's first communication with MIA-AIFSS, the weather briefer informed the pilot that rain showers and thunderstorms were predicted to precede a frontal system across the southern tip of Florida and move out past Nassau, Bahamas, later in the afternoon. The pilot told the briefer that based upon the outlook he did not plan on going but would call back to see if the conditions had improved. The pilot's last communication with MIA-AIFSS prior to departure occurred at 0825. During this conversation, the pilot noted that he had initially filed a flight plan, and had intended to depart at 0815. The briefer then told the pilot that there was activity beginning near Key Largo and extending to the southwest, but that at that time there was nothing significant along his route from Tamiami to Bimini. The briefer further added that the "Key Largo system" was moving slowly to the northeast. A half an hour passed between the end of this brief and the time that N54835 took off, during which time radar data shows that the system progressed to the northeast. The NTSB did not obtain any records to substantiate the pilot having obtained an instrument rating. The NTSB Meteorology Report has been included as an attachment to the factual report.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset