Bieber's Seaplane Base Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

North Lima, Ohio 44452
Saturday, November 3, 2001 15:00 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot owned the "amphibian" airplane, which was equipped with both floats and a retractable wheel landing gear configuration. The pilot performed two runway landings at nearby airport, then returned to land at his private lake. The pilot said he inadvertently landed on the lake with the landing gear wheels in the extended position and the airplane flipped over.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to retract the landing gear, which resulted in a wheels down landing on water.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/3/2001
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City North Lima
Event State OHIO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 44452
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 405904N
Event Location Longitude 0804128W
Event Location Airport Bieber's Seaplane Base
Event Location Nearest Airport ID OI76
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1012
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1551 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID YNG
Elevation of weather observation facility 1196
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 17
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4700
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11843
NTSB Notification Source
NTSB Notification Date Nov 6 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 930
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 4 2002 9:52AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Cleveland

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5511G
NTSB Number NYC02LA031
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Maule
Aircraft Model M7-260
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 26014C
Certified Max Gross Weight 2750
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 43
Airframe Hours 43
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Mill Creek Farms Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3511 Silverside Rd. Ste 105
Aircraft Owner City Wilmington
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19818
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name William A. Bieber
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Canfield
Operator State OH
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 44406
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 4G4
Departure City YOUNGSTOWN
Departure State OH
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1455
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code OI76
Destination City North Lima
Destination State OH
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 13 2002 11:35AM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --