- Date
- June 24, 1984, 17:37 local (21:37 UTC)
- Place
- Mears, MI
- Injuries
- 2 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N8003HLake LA-4-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840624026529A
- Case key
- 12666
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 reported that when the amphibious aircraft reached 8 to 10 feet AGL during takeoff, a x-wind gust caused the left sponson to contact the water surface. This caused loss of control and resulted in the plane crashing inverted in the lake.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8003H
- Reported as
- Lake LA-4-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1012
- Airframe hours
- 237
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jns Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 6, 1984 · 36 hours before
- Departed
- Mears, MI
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
- 54
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 258 total · 171 in this make and model · 147 as pilot in command · 118 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MGA, 30 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.