Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Northeast Carry, Maine 04478
Saturday, October 19, 2013 18:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, night was approaching when he landed the seaplane on a lake and taxied to shore to find out he was at the wrong destination. The pilot began to taxi along the shore, but then decided to take off again to regain his bearings and land at his intended destination. At the time of the takeoff, night had already fallen, the moon was full, there were no clouds and lighting was flat. Surface conditions were "full glass" with no ripples, and the airplane's navigation lights and landing lights were illuminated. The pilot flew the airplane out over the lake, intending to make a 180-degree turn and land back towards a dock. During the final turn, he lost "visual height reference," and after leveling the wings, he set up for a low-sink-rate, glassy water landing. He thought the airplane was about 100 feet above the water when it was only "mere feet" above the surface, which the airplane impacted at a high speed and a high sink rate. Upon impact, the floats tore off the airplane, which then nosed over. Both occupants exited, and as they were swimming to shore, they were picked up by a boat. The pilot did not note any preexisting mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Federal Aviation Administration publication FAA-H-023 states, "night landings in seaplanes on open water are extremely dangerous with a high possibility of damage or loss of the seaplane. A night landing should only be performed in an extreme emergency when no other options are available." It also notes that glassy water conditions can make accurate depth perception very difficult, even for experienced pilots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper decision to take off for an intended night water landing, and his subsequent loss of depth perception during that landing attempt.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/19/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Northeast Carry |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04478 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 455225N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0693740W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 1830 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GNR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1401 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 28.31 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32312 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 4 2014 5:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N93037 |
| NTSB Number | ERA14CA021 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | A185F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18503168 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3350 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 9 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5971 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | COLEMAN SARAH B DBA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 859 MAIN ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | DENNISTOWN |
| Aircraft Owner State | ME |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 049453003 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Thomas Coleman |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | West Forks |
| Operator State | ME |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 04985 |
| 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 | Northeast Carry |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1825 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Northeast Carry |
| Destination State | ME |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 4 2014 5:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |