Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101

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**Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101**
Summary
Date	December 19, 2005
Type	Structural failure
Site	Miami Beach, Florida
Fatalities	20
Injuries	0
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Grumman G-73T
Operator	Chalk's Ocean Airways
Tail number	N2969
Passengers	18
Crew	2
Survivors	0

On December 19, 2005, Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 from Watson Island to Bimini crashed off Miami Beach, Florida. Witnesses saw white smoke billowing from the plane, before an explosion ripped off the right wing and the plane plunged into the ocean. Twenty people — 18 passengers and two crew members — were on board. Three of the passengers were children under the age of 2. Most of the passengers were from Bimini.

The plane crashed in Government Cut channel, connecting the Port of Miami to the Atlantic Ocean. Government Cut was closed to shipping until 6:30 p.m. on December 20, stranding at least three cruise ships. [1]

The plane was a Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard manufactured in 1947. It was the first fatal passenger incident for Chalk's Ocean Airways.[2]

One of the 20 people killed was Sergio Danguillecourt, a member of the board of directors of Bacardi Ltd. and a great-great grandson of the company's founder Don Facundo Bacardi Masso. His wife, Jacqueline Kriz Danguillecourt, was also killed.

The NTSB has not yet released a probable cause, but it did release pictures showing metal fatigue on the wing that snapped off. Therefore, a logical assumption to make is that the wing actually failed first, due to metal fatigue, and this caused the crash.