Cessna 402C, Vieques, Puerto Rico, July 8, 2000–“One main landing gear tire, wheel and brake assembly, the left wing lower skin from the area above the wing flap, the left wing baggage compartment door, the right nose baggage compartment door, the cabin floor cover and some items from the U.S. mail cargo airplane were recovered floating in the ocean…The remainder of the airplane was not located [or] recovered.” The NTSB’s final report concludes the Cessna twin’s final flight was caused by “the airplane’s entry into an uncontrolled descent for undetermined reasons from which it crashed into the ocean.”
On a Part 135 non-scheduled domestic mail contract mission, the flight departed San Juan, Puerto Rico, heading for St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. San Juan Approach Control (operated by the FAA) identified N405MN on radar shortly after 0430 and issued a climb to 7,000 ft. Both the FAA’s San Juan Approach Control and the U.S. Air Force radar data show the 402 leveled at 7,000 ft around 0444. About a minute later, the controller cleared N405MN direct to St. Croix. The pilot requested radar vectors to St. Croix and he received a heading of 140 deg.
