CaymanBrac Drug Flight C210

Details of deadly Brac plane crash revealed - C... https://www.caymancompass.com/2012/09/14/de...
Details of deadly Brac plane crash

revealed
By The Press - September 14, 2012
A Cessna 210 aircraft that attempted an emergency landing on a Cayman Brac street last November
apparently did so because of an electrical failure on the aircraft, United Kingdom accident investigator
surmised in a report.
The two men piloting the small plane, one from Mexico and the other from Colombia, died when the c
collided with two light poles in a heavily wooded and largely undeveloped area about nine miles north
Charles Kirkconnell International Airport.
“The aircraft probably suffered an electrical failure which pre

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intended to provide additional [travelling] range,” investigato
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Branch concluded. “The aircraft thensign
deviated from its origin
up now.
intended to divert to Cuba, and its track passed over Cayman
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“Evidence indicates that the pilot attempted to land on a road. The aircraft was destroyed when it
encountered obstacles, including poles, beside the road.
“The manner of operation of this aircraft, including extended flights over water and the modified fuel
system, introduced risks to the flight of which the crew must have been aware.”
The UK accident report, released Wednesday evening Cayman time, did not speculate on what the two
intended in their flight that included two landings in Mexico and one in Belize prior to the crash in Cay
Brac, the second largest island in the British Overseas Territory archipelago of the Cayman Islands. Ho
accident investigators did note that the Cessna’s registration could not be determined between the yea
2003 and 2009 and that it was carrying 10, 60-litre containers of fuel.
The plane was registered again sometime during 2009 in Mexico and had a current registration,
investigators found.
GPS devices located in the plane’s wreckage indicated separate potential routes for the plane.
“GPS A had an active route selected to a location in Venezuela near its border with Colombia,” UK
investigators noted. “GPS B had an active ‘go to’ selected to a point midway between Jamaica and the
northernmost point of Colombia.”
The aircraft’s fuel system had undergone what UK investigators referred to as a “significant amateur
modification” that added about 600 litres (158 US gallons) to its fuel capacity, allowing the plane to fly
farther than normal.
“There was insufficient evidence to determine the purpose of the flight, but there were indications tha
was intended to be clandestine, including the modified fuel system, the intended route and the uniden
flight plan destination,” accident investigators wrote. “The recovered documents and GPS data indicat
StayGuadalajara
that the aircraft had previously departed informed with
for a the
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of approximately 858 nm [nautical miles]. stories
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and appears to have occurred without incident.
“The crew filed a flight plan for an unidentified destination t
2 of 5 30/03/2020, 07:34
turning south and crossing the border into Belize,” investigators wrote. “The aircraft landed briefly at
improvised airstrip, then departed and flew east for some 490 nm, at which point the GPS track ended
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service released the following statement on the crash Thursday: “It w
clear early on in the investigation that the flight this aircraft was embarked on was not in accordance w
the international rules of aviation or the subject of any official flight planning.
“Police analysis of the GPS tracks of the aircraft from data supplied by the AAIB recovery of GPS units
on the aircraft showed that the planned route was from Mexico into Venezuela. There was evidence pi
using these GPS Units in the weeks prior had made long distance flights from Central America into
Venezuela, returning into unrecognized landing sites in Guatemala, Belize and Mexico.
“At no time was there any evidence that previous or intended routes included the Cayman Islands, or p
close to the Islands.”
The UK report mentioned nothing about any evidence of illegal drugs aboard the plane. However, it di
reveal one of the pilots, referred to as “Pilot A” – who had a lapsed Mexican pilot’s registration – tested
positive during a post-mortem for the presence of cocaine metabolites with associated compounds. “P
was clean, according to the report. He had a Colombian pilot’s licence issued in 1976.
Both men died from injuries suffered during the crash.
The pilots were earlier identified by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service as 35-year-old Mexican n
Jose Santos Castaneda Castrejon and Colombian national Fernando Duran Garcia, 56.
Little personal information was available from the report on both men. “Pilot A”, presumably Castaned
Castrejon, held multi-engine flight and instrument ratings as well as a Lear Jet series type-20 rating. D
of “Pilot B’s” experience and qualifications were not available.
The two men piloting the small plane,Get
one from
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collided with two light poles in a heavily wooded and largely
Charles Kirkconnell International Airport. Subscribe to our newsletter
3 of 5 30/03/2020, 07:34
The scene of the 14 November, 2011, deadly plane crash in Cayman Brac.
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The Brac plane crash wreckage

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Details of deadly Brac plane crash revealed - C... https://www.caymancompass.com/2012/09/14/de...

Details of deadly Brac plane crash

“The aircraft probably suffered an electrical failure which pre

Both men died from injuries suffered during the crash.

The Brac plane crash wreckage

Was this article useful? " 7

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