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Incident · Minor damage
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FAA incident report · Piper PA-18 · Coleraine, MN · June 6, 2026

FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal

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Date
June 6, 2026 · 17:36 local
Place
Coleraine, MN
Phase of flight
Landing: Touchdown
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N1460C
Reported as
Piper PA-18
Reported engine
Lycoming 0-290 series
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
2
Pilot’s certificate
Private pilot
Pilot’s flight hours
1,820 total280 in this make and model25 in the last 90 days
N1460CRegistered now · Piper PA-18S/N 18-2659 · Built 1953Airframe modelPiper PA-18Engine modelLycoming 0-290 series4 cycle

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry 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.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

The pilot departed from his home airport which has a land runway. After departure, he retracted the gear. When setting up for the water landing, he verifed his visual gear indication that it was up. The floats touched down on the step and once the float settled into the water, the aircraft experienced increased drag and slowly flipped over. The pilot noted the main gear was retracted; however, the front float gear had remained down due to hydrolock in the hydraulic system.

As the FAA filed it

THE PILOT DEPARTED FROM HIS HOME AIRPORT WHICH HAS A LAND RUNWAY. AFTER DEPARTURE, HE RETRACTED THE GEAR. WHEN SETTING UP FOR THE WATER LANDING, HE VERIFED HIS VISUAL GEAR INDICATION THAT IT WAS UP. THE FLOATS TOUCHED DOWN ON THE STEP AND ONCE THE FLOAT SETTLED INTO THE WATER, THE AIRCRAFT EXPERIENCED INCREASED DRAG AND SLOWLY FLIPPED OVER. THE PILOT NOTED THE MAIN GEAR WAS RETRACTED; HOWEVER, THE FRONT FLOAT GEAR HAD REMAINED DOWN DUE TO HYDROLOCK IN THE HYDRAULIC SYSTEM.