20010131001299A

(-23) After touch down on water, sea plane hit unseen wave. Wave pitched a/c back into the air resulting in a hard water landing. (-19) on January 31, 2001, at 1040 EST, a Cessna 208, N208KW, collided with water during landing off-shore in the dry tortugas national park near fort jefferson, 70 miles west of Key West, Florida. The airplane was operated by seaplane of Key West, and flown by the airline transport pilot (ATP) under the provisions of title 14, CFR part 135, and visual flight rules. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a VFR flight plan was filed for the local site seeing flight. The pilot and nine passengers were not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight originated from Key West, Florida at 1000. According to the pilot, while making a normal approach, including a flyby to evaluate landing conditions, he observed that one of the ferryboats was arriving in the south channel. He planned and performed his landing so as to avoid any past wake swells created by the boat and to stop short and completely be off step before reaching any wake swells. He stated that approx. 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through his landing slide, with the plane slowed to approx. 30-35 knots, a large swell appeared before him, lauching the airplane 10-15 feet above the water. This swell was completely separated from the boat wake that he had been observing and completely unseen until it was too late. The pilot further stated that, at this point, he was "powerless" to do anything but wait for the airplane to settle. When it did, at least one of the float/strut attach points failed. Once the pilot determined this, he taxied to shallow water. After reaching an area of shallow water, the pilot held the aircraft in position until park service boats and personnel arrived and assisted in deplaning the passengers. After all passengers were safely ashore, the park service personnel and the pilot anchored the a/c and waited for company representative to arrive(-4) on January 31, 2001, at 1040 EST, a Cessna 208, N208KW, collided with water during landing off-shore in the dry tortugas national park near fort jefferson, 70 miles west of Key West, Florida. The airplane was operated by seaplanes of Key West, and flown by the airline transport pilot (ATP) under the provisions of title 14 CFR part 135, and visual flight rules. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed for the local sightseeing flight. The pilot and nine passengers were not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight originated from Key West, Florida at 1000. According to the pilot, while making a normal approach, including a flyby to evaluate landing conditions, he observed that one of the ferryboats was arriving in the sough channel. He planned and performed a water landing to avoid any past wake swells created by the ferry boat in the landing area. Approximately 1/2 to 3/4 through the landing slide, with the airplane 10-15 feet above the water. This swell was completely separated from the boat wake that had been observed earlier. The pilot further stated that, at this point, he was "powerless" to do anything but wait for the airplane to settle. After the airplane settled on the water, the pilot taxied to shallow water where assistance was received frompark service in deplaning the airplane. The examination of the airplane disclosed that the rear float/strut attach point had failed and the strut assembly had penetrated the airframe skin. No mechanical problems with the airplane were reported by the pilot. According to the pilot, the swell that lauched the airplane during th alnding was not seen until it was too late for him to avoid the collision.