Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Oroville, California 95965
Saturday, August 21, 2004 11:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The amphibious airplane collided with the surface of a lake just after takeoff while flying low over the glassy-surfaced water. According to witnesses, the airplane was about 20 feet above the water and traveling about 70 miles per hour. Then, it "kissed" the surface, abruptly climbed up about 50 feet, turned to the left, and then descended into the water. Post-accident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions or anomalies. The airplane was equipped with pontoons on each wing that were secured to the wings using two forward brackets and a smaller aft attachment. The left pontoon was torn from the wing and located in the floating debris field. The right wing pontoon's aft attachment secured it to the wing; however, the pontoon had rotated from its installation position approximately 270 degrees and was lying with its right side flush against the bottom surface of the wing. The pontoon attach brackets remained on the wing structure and were bent in an inboard direction. The damage to the airplane, and the right pontoon deformation, was consistent with the right pontoon impacting the water unevenly first, with the final impact consistent with a nose and left wing down attitude. The pilot had accumulated about 278 hours in seaplanes prior to the accident and had last landed the airplane on water about 3 months prior to the accident. The pilot's toxicology report was positive for ephedrine and pseudoephedrine which, would not have a negative effect on the pilot's performance.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the water's surface, which resulted in his dragging of the right wing pontoon during low-altitude flight. The glassy-surfaced water was a contributing factor to the accident.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/21/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1145
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Oroville
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95965
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 392749N
Event Location Longitude 1214043W
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1153 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 40
Weather Observation Facility ID ORV
Elevation of weather observation facility 192
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 4
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.89
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19001
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 21 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1330
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 31 2006 7:35AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SAC-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1238L
NTSB Number LAX04FA300
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Consolidated Aeronautics, Inc
Aircraft Model Lake LA-4-200
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 737
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 1 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 40.6
Airframe Hours 1112
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Take Flight, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3303 Aviation Way
Aircraft Owner City Brenham
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77833
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Weldon Hord
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address On File
Operator City Brenham
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 77833
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Oroville
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1129
Departure Time Zone PDT
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 Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 21 2005 5:26PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --