- Date
- July 7, 2023, 08:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- Caswell Beach, NC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N38HPGood James AIR CAM
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Dragged wing/rotor/float/other
- 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
- FAA report
- 20230707009529A
- Case key
- 192573
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 properly evaluate the sea state during an open sea landing and subsequent takeoff attempt resulting in an inadvertent impact with the water.
Findings · 2
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
After a successful landing in the open sea, the pilot reported that the water was rougher than it appeared from the air and while making a subsequent take off attempt, the right float caught a swell and the airplane spun to the right resulting in substantial damage to both wings. The airplane came to rest inverted in the water. The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N38HP
- Reported as
- Good James AIR CAM
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 111042
- Built
- 2002
- Airframe hours
- 768
- Engines
- Rotax 912ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocatingRotax 912ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Tyl Holdings LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 27, 2023
- Departed
- SUT · Southport, NC
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Handheld GPS
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
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 11, 2023
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 2,501.7 total · 179.5 in this make and model · 2,376.2 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 6.5 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 81 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- KSUT, 5 nm away
- METAR
- KSUT 071230Z AUTO 26005KT 10SM CLR 29/27 A2988 RMK AO2 T02880269,M
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 28, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.9 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.