On December 6, 2001, a Convair 580, twin engine cargo plane, crash landed in shallow Atlantic waters just off Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. The Trans Air plane went down about 11:00pm, Thursday evening, in rough surf approximately 200 yards off shore and was pushed up to the beach by the pounding waves, which broke the tail off the plane as well. The plane registered to World Aviation Services.

The pilot and co-pilot, who were the only two on board, were able to hang onto the plane's wing, then made it for shore when the police and firefighters showed up. They only suffered minor cuts and scratches, but were taken to Aventura Hospital for treatment. The NTSB report states, that the plane had taken off from the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and was heading to Opa Locka Airport, in Miami, which was only 20 miles south, with no cargo aboard. The co-pilot reported that the first leg carried cargo from Opa Locka, to Nassau, Bahamas, and departed with approximately 926 gallons of fuel. After landing 300 more gallons of fuel were added; 150 gallons on each side. The co-pilot also stated that before the flight departed on the second leg for the Opa Locka Airport (KOPF), Opa Locka Florida, he checked the fuel gauges and thinks that both indicated approximately 50 gallons high. He estimated that 4,400 pounds of fuel were on board when the flight departed. The second leg was flown at 18,000 feet and when near the coastline, Miami Approach Control advised that the flight needed to divert to either Miami International Airport or the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (KFLL) due to U.S. Customs being closed at the KOPF airport. The flight diverted to the KFLL airport and landed at approximately 1940 local hours; the flight duration was approximately 46-49 minutes. After clearing customs, the co-pilot checked fuel magna sticks on each wing and the captain followed behind him. Each fuel tank contained approximately 1,100 pounds of fuel; no fuel was added at the KFLL airport. Before departure on the third leg, the fuel gauges were checked against the quantity as indicated by the magna sticks; the gauges were indicating approximately 200 pounds more than the magna sticks. The co-pilot stated that a total of 1,900 pounds of fuel were required for the flight from the KFLL airport to the KOPF airport. Visual flight rules (VFR) following was requested; the flight departed runway9L, and was cleared to climb to 2,000 feet on a heading of 100 degrees. The flight proceeded over the ocean for approximately 1 minute, then air traffic control (ATC) advised the flight crew to maintain a heading of 270 degrees. While flying westbound, he began seeing the shoreline when the flight was approximately 1/2 mile away, and at that time, he began hearing a change in the engine sound. He checked the rpm and fuel gauges and noted that the right rpm gauge needle was climbing but never to the green arc; the needle was fluctuating, and the right fuel gauge moved twice to zero but returned to the original reading. The left fuel tank gauge needle did not fluctuate. The right engine was secured as a precaution. The flight continued and the captain began "transferring' fuel from the right fuel tank to the left engine. The co-pilot advised ATC of the situation and requested a priority handling to the KOPF airport. A short time after securing the right engine, the left engine tachometer began fluctuating as the right hand had but to a lesser extent, then the rpm dropped. The co-pilot advised the pilot to fly to the ocean and ATC was advised that the flight was going to ditch.

A witness observed the airplane flying southwest bound towards the ocean and when near the shoreline, the airplane banked to the right, flying southbound paralleling the beach. The airplane was ditched east of a buoy and remained floating after the ditching.