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NTSB Investigating de Havilland DHC-3 Accident Near Dry Tortugas, Florida

The accident record lists substantial damage to a Key West Seaplane Adventures aircraft on April 11, 2026; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 7, 2026, 9:56 a.m. ET
The National Transportation Safety Board has an open investigation into an accident involving a de Havilland DHC-3 near Dry Tortugas, Florida, on April 11, 2026, at about 8:45 a.m. local time, according to the accident record. The event is developing and few details have been released. The accident record identifies the aircraft as , lists the operator as , and classifies the flight as a Part 135 commuter or on-demand operation. The record states the aircraft sustained substantial damage. It does not list injury counts, which is usual for a preliminary filing. The cause has not been determined. Aircraft registry records list as a with serial number 59, built in 1954, making it 72 years old, described in the registry as a single-engine piston landplane fitted with a Pratt & Whitney PT6A series engine and registered in the United States. The registry lists the registered owner as Single Otter Leasing Two LLC; the owner of record is not necessarily the operator of the flight, the pilot, or otherwise connected to it. The Alaska Company Directory, compiled from Alaska Secretary of State corporate records, lists Single Otter Leasing Two, LLC as a limited liability company; no further verified details about the entity's operations, ownership or place of business were found. That background says nothing about this accident. As a matter of public record, the NTSB database, which begins in 2008, contains 9 other cases involving the , of which 4 involved a fatality. That count is not a safety rate and says nothing about the cause of this accident. Geographic reference data places Dry Tortugas in Monroe County, Florida, with a settlement terrain elevation of 0 ft; that figure describes the settlement, not the accident site. The NTSB investigation remains open.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Registration
N708KA
Type
Dehavilland DHC-3 — single-engine piston landplane
Engines
P&W PT6A SERIES
Built
1954-01-01 (72 years old)
Registered owner
Single Otter Leasing Two LlcThe owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight.
Terrain elevation
0 ft

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 27 Aug 2026, 13:56current

    Added registry configuration detail for N708KA and clarified that the 0 ft elevation refers to the settlement, not the accident site; no new facts released.

  2. Version 15 Aug 2026, 16:17

    First published.

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