- Date
- September 12, 1999, 13:27 local (17:27 UTC)
- Place
- Ann Arbor, MI
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1137LLake LA-4
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 18, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990912029639A
- Case key
- 47300
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 touchdown during a water landing.
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 told police he was going to practice a touch and go landing on the lake. He said that on touchdown the airplane decelerated as if 'the brakes were locked,' and the airplane cartwheeled. The pilot did not indicate any mechanical problem with the airplane. Subsequent to the accident an examination of the wreckage was conducted. The inspector said the airplane was broken into three major pieces. He said his examination of the wreckage failed to reveal any pre-impact anomalies. He said landing gear was in the retracted position. He said that when he talked to police authorities they told him, 'According to witnesses [the pilot] was attempting a landing on Bruin Lake when he lost control of the aircraft. One of the sponsons hit the water causing the aircraft to flip.'
Factual narrative
On September 12, 1999, at 1327 eastern daylight time, a Lake LA-4, N1137L, sustained substantial damage during a landing on Bruin Lake, about 18 miles northwest of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The airline transport rated pilot received serious injuries. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file. The local flight departed Pontiac, Michigan, about 1300.
The pilot told police authorities that he was going to practice a touch and go landing on the lake. He said that on touchdown the airplane decelerated as if "the brakes were locked." The pilot said he did not know what caused the accident. The pilot did not indicate any mechanical problem with the airplane.
Subsequent to the accident an examination of the wreckage was conducted. The Federal Aviation Administration inspector said the airplane was broken into three major pieces and was recovered from the lake the day following the accident. He said his examination of the wreckage failed to reveal any pre-impact anomalies. He said landing gear was in the retracted position. He said that when he talked to police authorities they told him, "According to witnesses [the pilot] was attempting a landing on Bruin Lake when he lost control of the aircraft. One of the sponsons hit the water causing the aircraft to flip."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1137L
- Reported as
- Lake LA-4
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 299
- Airframe hours
- 1,900
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Francis B. Mclaughlin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 24, 1999 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- PTK · Pontiac, MI
- Destination
- NONE
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
- 55
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,254 total · 65 in this make and model · 3,129 as pilot in command · 28 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 11 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ARB, 18 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.
Other investigations on N1137L · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.