Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bellevue, Washington 98008
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 10:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The light sport aircraft student pilot was taking his experimental light sport seaplane for its second test flight. The student pilot reported that he reduced power without verifying the airplane's airspeed during the landing and the left wing dropped; the airplane subsequently touched down hard upon the water. Damage included composite material fractures on both vertical fins. The student pilot had about 32 hours total time and had been signed off by his certified flight instructor to fly a single-engine land light sport airplane. He was not signed off for solo flight in the accident airplane. The student pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/24/2009
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1045
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Bellevue
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98008
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 473726N
Event Location Longitude 1220453W
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 --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID RNT
Elevation of weather observation facility 32
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.8
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) 25693
NTSB Notification Source NW Com Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 18 2009 12:03PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N226SE
NTSB Number WPR09CA310
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Weston
Aircraft Model SEA-ERA
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 001
Certified Max Gross Weight 950
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Paul H Weston
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Redmond
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Paul H Weston
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Redmond
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
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 --
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) Flight Test
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Bellevue
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1030
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Bellevue
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 8 2009 4:38PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --