Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rumney, New Hampshire 03226
Friday, August 30, 2013 17:35 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The purpose of the flight was for the pilot to relocate the amphibious airplane from an airport with a small grass runway, to another nearby land airport. Enroute, the pilot planned to make two intermediate stops at local lakes, before proceeding to the destination. After takeoff from the departure airport, the pilot did not retract the landing gear, and climbed the airplane in preparation to land at the first intermediate destination lake, which was located about 6 miles and about 1,500 feet in elevation above the departure airport. During the climb, the pilot leaned the engine's fuel mixture, and observed four green lights illuminated on the instrument panel, after which he stated, "Gear is up for water landing." He again repeated the landing gear check with the lake of intended landing in sight; however, illumination of four blue lights on the instrument panel was the correct indication that the landing gear was retracted and configured for a water landing.
While on final approach to the lake, while at an altitude of 40 feet and an airspeed of 75 mph, the landing gear warning indicator announced "gear is down for runway landing." The pilot responded by immediately initiating a go-around. The pilot pushed the throttle and propeller vernier controls forward simultaneously, but only brushed his fingers against the mixture control. The airplane continued to descend and struck the water about 10 seconds later with the engine under partial power. The airplane immediately nosed over upon touchdown, resulting in substantial damage.
The pilot later was advised by witnesses who observed the accident that during the go-around attempt, that as the engine power increased, it began "sputtering." The pilot then realized that he was likely unable to hear this due to the background noise of the music he had playing and noise-cancelling headset he was wearing. Upon examining the wreckage following the accident, the pilot found that the mixture control had not been fully advanced as he had applied power during the go-around attempt. In evaluating his fitness for flight following the accident, the pilot stated, "The flight was after a stressful day of work. Mentally I was C+ material at best. Concentration and focus was not as high as I like for flying."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to ensure that the amphibious airplane's landing gear was properly configured for a landing on water and his failure to properly configure the airplane during the attempted go-around.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/30/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1735 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rumney |
| Event State | NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 03226 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 435204N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0714754W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| 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 | 2035 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | K1P1 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 505 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| 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 | METAR K1P1 302035Z AUTO 29005KT 10SM SCT070 SCT095 |
| 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) | 32157 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 17 2013 4:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N208LH |
| NTSB Number | ERA13CA416 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | U206F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | F |
| Aircraft Serial Number | U20602642 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 14 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 106 |
| Airframe Hours | 2630 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIRBORNE FLYER LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 85 LEAVITT HILL RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | ASHLAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 032174404 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AIRBORNE FLYER LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 85 LEAVITT HILL RD |
| Operator City | ASHLAND |
| Operator State | NH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 032174404 |
| 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 | 1P1 |
| Departure City | Plymouth |
| Departure State | NH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1725 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Rumney |
| Destination State | NH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 17 2013 4:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |