# Accident 20250901012799A: Cessna 170B, Stratton, ME, September 1, 2025

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 1, 2025, 13:30 local time
- Place: Stratton, ME
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Takeoff: Climb Out
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 45.2089° N, 70.3773° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=45.2089&lon=-70.3773&mi=10
- Aircraft: N3576D, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N3576D) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 170B (registry code 2072306, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-170b) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental 0-300 series (registry code 17022, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-0-300-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 170B
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 2
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot, private pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 1,160 total, 327 in this make and model, 7 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB ERA25LA347](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA25LA347) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250901012799A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

PILOT STATED AFTER TAKEOFF FROM GLASSY WATER CONDITIONS, A POSITIVE RATE OF CLIMB WAS ESTABLISHED AND HE BEGAN RETRACTING MANUAL FLAPS. WHEN DOING SO THE AIRCRAFT SETTLED BACK TO THE SURFACE OF WATER. THE INITIAL DRAG OF THE FLOATS CONTACTING THE GLASSY SURFACE SHOVED HIS BODY FORWARD INTO THE CONTROL YOKE. AT FULL POWER AND 60+ MILES PER HOUR, THE AIRCRAFT IMMEDIATELY FLIPPED OVER, SUBMERGING THE OCCUPANTS. PILOT STATED HE MAY NOT HAVE REALIZED HOW CLOSE HE WAS TO THE WATER BASED OFF ITS GLASSY APPEARANCE AND MAY HAVE RETRACTED THE FLAPS PREMATURELY.  HE ATTRIBUTES WEARING FOUR POINT HARNESSES TO HIS AND PASSENGER'S SURVIVAL.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB ERA25LA347](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA25LA347), Sep 1, 2025: Cessna 170 (N3576D), Eustis, ME, substantial damage. Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during takeoff, which resulted in an inadvertent descent, contact with the water, and a subsequent nose over.

## Other reports on N3576D (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Incident 19860530029949I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19860530029949I), May 30, 1986: Cessna STC170 (N3576D), Greenville, ME, Minor damage. During water turn to taxi to the dock, a gust of wind caused aircraft to turn over and sink.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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