Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mount Dora, Florida 32757
Saturday, March 29, 2008 14:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot of an amateur built Searey amphibian airplane, he departed Eustis, Florida about 1420 and flew towards Lake Dora, Florida, to do a water landing. The approach onto Lake Dora, was normal. As he touched down he looked and realized that he had not retracted the landing gear. He applied full power and full aft elevator, however the drag from the landing gear did not allow the airspeed to increase and the airplane came to a rapid stop, and sustained substantial damage. The pilot further stated, that he had good instruction, and has flown many different airplanes, "I just made a bad mistake that I hope never happens again."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to verify the position of the landing gear prior to making a water landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/29/2008
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Mount Dora
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32757
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 284216N
Event Location Longitude 0813432W
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 10
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 143
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KLEE
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.11
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 23549
NTSB Notification Source SROC
NTSB Notification Date Mar 29 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 30 2008 1:28PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Tampa FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N202MT
NTSB Number MIA08CA085
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 Thomas J. Dorsey
Aircraft Model Searey
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1MK 295C
Certified Max Gross Weight 1450
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Sep 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 199
Airframe Hours 216
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Glenn Louis Abbett
Aircraft Owner Street Address 11701 West 1800 South
Aircraft Owner City LaCrosse
Aircraft Owner State IN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 46348
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
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 X55
Departure City Eustis
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1420
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code X04
Destination City Apopka
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 24 2008 11:03AM
User who most recently changed record grer
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 --