Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sunapee, New Hampshire 03782
Thursday, May 9, 1996 12:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had not flown in make or model for 8 months. According to CAP regulations, in order to do water landings after such a lapse in flight time, the pilot was required to have a flight instructor with him. The pilot had called, reserved the airplane and gave the instructor's name who would be accompanying him during the flight. Witnesses saw the airplane land on the lake earlier and then saw an aborted takeoff attempt. His second takeoff attempt was successful and the pilot left the local area. The accident occurred on his return landing. A witness stated that he was surprised to see the airplane attempting to land because he did not normally see airplanes land in this area of the lake. Also, the witness stated that the winds in the area were strong and in the direction that the airplane was attempting to land, with 2-3 foot roller waves created by the high winds. He watched the airplane hit the water hard and bounce up approximately 10 to 15 feet. He heard the engine go to full power, at which time the tail of the airplane hit the water. The nose of the airplane pitched forward and 'pile drived' itself into the water. The airplane flipped and floated on its back for approximately 10 minutes. By the time the witness got into his boat and got to the airplane it was already underwater and sinking rapidly. The nonswimmer pilot was recovered later that day from inside the airplane not wearing personal floatation devices. The cause of death was attributed to drowning.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane. Factors in this accident were: the pilot's lack of currency in type and model airplane, and not following the requirement for the pilot to have a flight instructor onboard during water landings.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/9/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1250 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | SUNAPEE |
| Event State | NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 03782 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1251 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CON |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 346 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1942 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 9 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1345 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5040L |
| NTSB Number | IAD96FA074 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Lake |
| Aircraft Model | LA-4-200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | LA-4-200 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 497 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 14 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 36 |
| Airframe Hours | 2386 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CIVIL AIR PATROL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 51 AIRPORT ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | CONCORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03301 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | NH WING CIVIL AIR PATROL |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 51 AIRPORT ROAD |
| Operator City | CONCORD |
| Operator State | NH |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 03301 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MHT |
| Departure City | MANCHESTER |
| Departure State | NH |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1204 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |