Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Anchorage, Alaska 99502
Tuesady, June 24, 1997 9:00 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airline transport pilot was taking a check ride with an FAA inspector for a reinstatement of his flight instructor certificate. The check ride was being conducted in the pilot's amphibian float equipped airplane. Under the direction of the FAA inspector, the pilot was demonstrating the technique for a glassy water landing. Shortly after touchdown, the airplane slowly nosed over. Both the pilot and the inspector were uninjured, and were able to quickly evacuate the airplane. The pilot related he was given different departure instructions from the air traffic control tower when he took off from a hard surface runway at the beginning of the flight, and he elected to leave his wheels extended longer than normal because of the route of flight. He said he forgot to retract them prior to the water landing. The FAA inspector indicated he also was unaware of the extended wheels. The landing gear indicator light in the airplane was functional at the time of the incident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot-in-command's failure to retract the landing gear which led to an inadvertent water landing with the amphibian float wheels extended. Associated factors are the pilot's habit interference and the FAA inspector's inadequate monitoring of the flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 6/24/1997
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 900
Event Time Zone --
Event City ANCHORAGE
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99502
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 6
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 853 Atlantic Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 215
Weather Observation Facility ID ANC
Elevation of weather observation facility 144
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation ADT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 30
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 5041
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 24 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1025
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:19PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4952E
NTSB Number ANC97IA089
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 185
Aircraft Series Identifier 185
Aircraft Serial Number 18503918
Certified Max Gross Weight 3350
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 15 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 31
Airframe Hours 1596
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOHN S. LEE
Aircraft Owner Street Address POST OFFICE BOX 2409
Aircraft Owner City PALMER
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99645
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code ANC
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 845
Departure Time Zone ADT
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 10:30AM
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 --