- Date
- September 13, 1993, 12:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Puget Bay, AK
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N95608Taylorcraft BC12-D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19930913039259A
- Case key
- 2434
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision, and his misjudging his altitude above the water. A factor was the glassy water.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot misjudged his altitude above the water while on short final approach for a glassy water landing. As he made a minor heading correction in order to land directly into the wind, the left float hit the water. The floats were torn from the airplane which sank immediately. The pilot had not filed a flight plan and was not rescued until 9 days later.
Factual narrative
History of flight
On September 13, 1993, at 1200 Alaska daylight time, a float equipped Taylorcraft BC12-D airplane, N95608, crashed while making a glassy water landing on a lake at Puget Bay, located 35 miles southeast of Seward, Alaska. The private pilot, the sole occupant, sustained minor injuries, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The local personal flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, departed Fire Lake at Eagle River, Alaska, at about 1000. Visual meteorological conditions existed, and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot was located and rescued on September 22, 1993. Shortly afterward during a telephone conversation, he stated the following, in part: "I was making a glassy water approach and landing to the lake. When I reached what I thought was about 200 feet above the water, it felt like the wind picked up and shifted a little. As I made a slight turn in order to land directly into the wind, the left float hit the water. The floats were torn off and the airplane sank immediately. I had landed at that lake once previously."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N95608
- Reported as
- Taylorcraft BC12-D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7908
- Airframe hours
- 4,150
- Engine
- Continental O-200A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Legler, Michael D.
- Registered owner
- Legler, Michael D.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 18, 1992 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- Eagle River, AK
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 627 total · 550 in this make and model · 609 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots, gusting 5
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.