Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101

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**Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101**
Summary
Date	December 19, 2005
Type	Structural failure
Site	Miami Beach, Florida
Passengers	18
Crew	2
Injuries	0
Fatalities	20
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Grumman G-73T
Operator	Chalk's Ocean Airways
Tail number	N2969

On December 19, 2005, Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States to Bimini, Bahamas, with an unscheduled stop at Watson Island, Miami, Florida ^[1], crashed off Miami Beach, Florida. Witnesses saw white smoke billowing from the plane, before an explosion ripped off the right wing and the plane plunged into the ocean. Twenty people — 18 passengers and two crew members — were on board. Three of the passengers were children under the age of 2. Most of the passengers were from Bimini.

The plane crashed in Government Cut channel, a waterway which connects the Port of Miami with the Atlantic Ocean. Government Cut was closed to shipping until 6:30 p.m. on December 20, stranding at least three cruise ships.^[2]

The plane was a Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard manufactured in 1947. It was the first fatal passenger incident for Chalk's Ocean Airways.^[3]

One of the 20 people killed was Sergio Danguillecourt, a member of the board of directors of Bacardi Ltd. and a great-great grandson of the company's founder Don Facundo Bacardi Masso. His wife, Jacqueline Kriz Danguillecourt, was also killed.

On 22 December 2005 the NTSB issued a press release^[4] which included pictures showing metal fatigue on the wing that broke off. The NTSB later issued a preliminary accident report^[5].

On May 30, 2007, Reuters reported that "The National Transportation Safety Board asserted Chalk Ocean Airways failed to identify and properly repair fatigue cracks on the 1947 Grumman Turbo Mallard. The plane lost its right wing on takeoff for the Bahamas and plunged into the shipping channel adjacent to the Port of Miami on December 19, 2005. The safety board, in its final report on Wednesday on the probable cause of the crash, noted numerous maintenance-related problems on the plane and another company aircraft, raising questions about Chalk Ocean's aircraft maintenance practices. 'The signs of structural problems were there but not addressed,' safety board chairman Mark Rosenker said. The safety board also said the Federal Aviation Administration failed to detect and correct the airline's maintenance shortfalls. Regulations exempt older seaplanes from rigorous structural oversight. Chalk Ocean had no comment on the safety board's findings. The FAA said it had no indication Chalk Ocean's maintenance program was in question. 'The regulations are crystal clear that the carrier has primary responsibility for the airworthiness of (its) fleet and that includes making appropriate structural repairs,' the agency said in a statement.^[6]