Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Stanwood, Washington 98292
Sunday, January 26, 2014 16:15 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The noncertificated pilot reported that, following an uneventful local sightseeing flight, he conducted a low pass over a lake with glassy water conditions; he did not intend to land. The pilot thought the airplane was about 3 or 4 feet above the water when it suddenly skimmed the water’s surface. The pilot pulled up, but the airplane subsequently nosed down into the water, and it became partially submerged. It is likely that the glassy water conditions adversely affected the pilot’s depth perception, which led to his subsequent failure to judge the height above the water and resulted in the inadvertent touchdown. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The noncertificated pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from water while maneuvering at a low altitude over glassy water conditions, which adversely affected his depth perception.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/26/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1615 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Stanwood |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98292 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 480827N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221749W |
| 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 | 15 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 78 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KAWO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 137 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KAWO 270015Z AUTO 29003KT 10SM CLR 08/03 A30 |
| 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) | 32941 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 15 2014 6:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | eckd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N669DT |
| NTSB Number | WPR14LA112 |
| 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 | WEINZIERL |
| Aircraft Model | SEAREY |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 81MK04906 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1300 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 27 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 379 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHAMPOUX JOSEPH C |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SEATTLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 981461405 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | CHAMPOUX JOSEPH C |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SEATTLE |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 981461405 |
| 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 | AWO |
| Departure City | Arlington |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | AWO |
| Destination City | Arlington |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 21 2014 6:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |