Pilot ‘felt a strong jolt’ before crash off Myrtle Beach, but why remains a mystery
A pilot told investigators he “felt a strong jolt, as if something had hit [the airplane]” before it lost power and crashed into the ocean off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, according to the final crash report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The pilot escaped the plane before it sank and a passing tourist helicopter threw a life vest just after the plane landed on the water, the NTSB said.
Releasing the final report this month, investigators said they do not know why the plane lost power shortly after takeoff on May 9, 2017. The plane sank to the bottom of the ocean and was never recovered, the NTSB said, so the reason why will remain a mystery.
The private four-seat plane took off from Myrtle Beach International Airport at about 4:30 p.m. to fly to Charleston, South Carolina, the report said. When the airplane reached about 300 feet, the pilot told investigators he felt a jolt and lost power in the plane’s single engine.
That’s when he told the control tower that he would have to ditch the plane in the ocean, the report said.
A salvage company tried to find the plane, but no one ever saw it again, according to the NTSB report.
“Because the airplane was not recovered from the ocean and could not be examined, the reason for the total loss of engine power could not be determined,” the report said.
The plane had its annual inspection about seven months earlier and had an oil change and engine inspection less than two months before the crash, according to the NTSB.
