NTSB Factual Report

On December 8, 2005, about 1600 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N49815, registered to and operated by Command Aircraft Parts and Recovery Inc., as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 positioning flight, ditched into the Atlantic Ocean, near Key Largo, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The unlicensed pilot received no injuries, and the airplane incurred substantial damage. The flight originated in Marathon, Florida, the same day, about 1545.

The pilot stated that he had been asked by the owner of the airplane/owner of Command Aircraft Parts and Recovery Inc., an airplane wreckage salvage company, to ferry an airplane that the company had recently purchased. The pilot further stated that the airplane had been sitting in an area that had extensive flooding, which had occurred as a result of hurricanes that had affected the area.

After conducting a preflight examination, the pilot said he took off, climbed to an altitude of 1,500 feet, and flew the airplane over the water, just off the Florida Keys. He said that everything was proceeding uneventfully, with the airplane "operating flawlessly." After being in cruise flight for about 15 minutes, he said that all of a sudden, without warning, the engine ceased operating. As part of his emergency actions, the pilot said he pumped the primer, and the engine began to operate sporadically, and added that he was able to keep the engine operating through the use of the primer. When he pulled the primer out it, he said it would be sucked back in. After a little while the engine ceased operating all together, and the pilot said he ditched the airplane in the shallow ocean waters off the coast of Key Largo, Florida. According to the pilot, he had experienced "several problems" with the FAA, and at the time of the accident flight, both his FAA private pilot certificate and his FAA airframe and powerplant mechanic certificate had been revoked.

Personnel from Command Aircraft Parts and Recovery Inc., recovered the accident airplane from the ocean and transported it to their salvage facility in Bunnell, Florida. On January 15, 2006, an FAA inspector visited the Command Aircraft Parts and Recovery Inc., facility in Bunnell, Florida, and examined the aircraft. According to the inspector, the airplane was found to have extensive corrosion. he said when he examined the magnetos, carburetor and spark plugs, they displayed evidence of having been worn, severely fouled, having extensive corrosion. The inspector said that due to the airplane having sat in flood waters, as well as having ditched in the ocean, he was unable to determine its preaccident condition.

NTSB Probable Cause

A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons that resulted in the airplane being ditched into the ocean. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's operation of an airplane with known deficiencies due to it having sat in flooded waters.