Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Grand Prarie, Texas 75050
Thursday, September 23, 2004 8:45 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A 15,540-hour pilot reported that during an approach to land his amphibian experimental airplane on a lake, he noticed that the oil temperature gauge read excessively high and the oil pressure gauge read excessively low. Distracted by these indications and other factors, the pilot failed to complete his pre-landing checklist. The airplane touched down in the water with the landing gear extended, which resulted in a nose-over. The airplane came to rest inverted and submerged in the water.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to complete a pre-landing checklist, which resulted in a gear down landing on the water. A factor was the pilot's diverted attention as a result of abnormal engine indications.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/23/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 845
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Grand Prarie
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 75050
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 324154N
Event Location Longitude 0970247W
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 1325 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID GPM
Elevation of weather observation facility 589
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7500
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 160
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.09
Density Altitude (feet) 1564
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) 16855
NTSB Notification Source FAA Communications Center
NTSB Notification Date Sep 23 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1000
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 28 2004 12:45PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Dallas, Texas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N70HR
NTSB Number FTW04CA240
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Carter-Jones
Aircraft Model Volmer Sportsman
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number CJ-1
Certified Max Gross Weight 1700
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 55
Airframe Hours 600
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name David Hoffmeister
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 301 S Coppell Rd Trlr 38
Operator City Coppell
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 75019
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 4T6
Departure City Midlothian
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Grand Prarie
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 19 2004 4:51PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --