- Date
- June 27, 2020, 17:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Erie, MI
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N59262Volmer VJ22
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards
- FAA report
- 20200627011089A
- Case key
- 101513
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 failure to ensure that the amphibious airplane’s wheels were retracted before attempting a water landing, resulting in a nose over during touch down. Contributing to the accident was the lack of a checklist available to the pilot.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported he had departed from a paved runway in his amphibious airplane. After takeoff, he was momentarily distracted by communications with air traffic control and did not ensure the landing gear was retracted. After a short local flight, he prepared to make a water landing on a lake. However, he was unable to locate the water landing checklist in the airplane and completed the checklist from memory. During the process, he inadvertently "skipped over" verifying the landing gear was retracted. When the airplane touched down on the water, he was unable to prevent it from nosing over. Photographs of the airplane taken during recovery from the lake showed substantial damage to the fuselage and wings. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that could have contributed to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N59262
- Reported as
- Volmer VJ22 (No Series)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- F-2
- Built
- 1975
- Airframe hours
- 274
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-D2, 135 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · June 25, 2020 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- TOL · Toledo, OH
- Destination
- None · Erie, MI
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, ADS-B
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
- 50
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 2, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 789 total · 102 in this make and model · 703 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.76 inHg
- Observed at
- TOL, 80 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 7, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N59262 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.