http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=ATL04LA153&rpt=p

July 12, 2004

Cargo plane plunges into sea off British Virgin Islands, pilot missing

Charlotte Amalie, U-S Virgin Islands-AP –

A cargo plane carrying two crew members plunged into the Caribbean Sea today after reporting engine trouble.

The co-pilot was rescued. The pilot is missing off the British Virgin Islands.

A Coast Guard helicopter plucked the co-pilot from the water and rushed him to St. Thomas in the U-S Virgin Islands.

He's being treated for head injuries and was stable.

The twin-engine Convair 440 was manufactured in 1956.

The U-S Federal Aviation Administration says the plane had made a previous emergency landing, in February of 1987 in Dallas, after a fire in the right engine.

The plane today was carrying food from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to the French Caribbean territory of St. Martin.

Puerto Rico-based Tolair Cargo Charter Flights had chartered the plane, which is owned by San Juan-based Dodita Air Cargo.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.