Accident Cessna 560 Citation Encore N832R,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 319428

Date:	Friday 24 May 2019
Time:	17:55
Type:	Cessna 560 Citation Encore
Owner/operator:	Jet Sales LLC
Registration:	N832R
MSN:	560-0585
Year of manufacture:	2001
Total airframe hrs:	4744 hours
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PW535A
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	500 km E off Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA - Atlantic Ocean
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:	St. Louis Regional Airport, IL (ALN/KALN)
Destination airport:	Fort Lauderdale-Executive Airport, FL (FXE/KFXE)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A Cessna 560 Citation Encore ditched into the Atlantic Ocean about 300 miles east of Fort Lauderdale. The pilot was not found and presumed fatally injured.
According to the owner of the airplane, he purchased the airplane two days prior to the accident. The airplane had recently undergone a progressive inspection, which was completed on May 22, 2019. The owner then hired a contract pilot to fly the airplane to Fort Lauderdale-Executive Airport (FXE) to have some avionics work done.
The aircraft departed St. Louis Regional Airport, Illinois, USA at 18:36 UTC (13:36 local time) on the flight to FXE. The aircraft climbed to the cruising altitude of FL390.
The pilot established communications with the Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) and reported he was level at FL390, and that the air was smooth. Later, the air traffic controller tried to communicate with the pilot to tell him to contact the Jacksonville ARTCC, but the controller was unable to make contact with the pilot. The controller made several attempts to contact the pilot on different radio frequencies, to no avail. The controller then advised Jacksonville ARTCC that communications with the flight had been lost. The Jacksonville controllers then continued to monitor the flight via radar. The flight transitioned through Jacksonville and Miami ARTCC airspace without any radio contact.
The US Air Force dispatched two Homestead AFRES F-15 aircraft to intercept the accident airplane. One of the interceptor pilots reported that he could see the pilot unconscious and slumped over the controls. The intercept airplanes followed the accident airplane until it descended and impacted the Atlantic Ocean about 310 miles east of FXE.
The US Coast Guard initiated a search after the accident, which was suspended on May 25, 2019. The pilot and the airplane were not recovered.

Probable cause: "Impact with water for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information."

Accident investigation: