- Date
- October 6, 2014, 10:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- Tampa, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N345BTToerner Bob SEA REY
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Low altitude operation/event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 12, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20141006018829A
- Case key
- 90222
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 retract the landing gear after takeoff, which resulted in the landing gear contacting the water while maneuvering at low altitude.
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
The pilot stated that he was conducting a demonstration flight with a passenger onboard in the amphibious experimental amateur-built airplane. He reported that after takeoff, while explaining the operational characteristics of the airplane to his passenger, he forgot to raise the airplane's landing gear as was his custom. Later in the flight, while performing a low-altitude slow flight maneuver over water, the landing gear made contact with the water's surface. The airplane subsequently nosed over into the water and came to rest upright, resulting in substantial damage to the windscreen and front deck. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that could have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that he was conducting a demonstration flight with a passenger onboard in the amphibious experimental amateur-built airplane. He reported that after takeoff, while explaining the operational characteristics of the airplane to his passenger, he forgot to raise the airplane's landing gear as was his custom. Later in the flight, while performing a low-altitude slow flight maneuver over water, the landing gear made contact with the water's surface. The airplane subsequently nosed over into the water and came to rest upright, resulting in substantial damage to the windscreen and front deck. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that could have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N345BT
- Reported as
- Toerner Bob SEA REY
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1DK322C
- Built
- 2003
- Airframe hours
- 546
- Engine
- Rotax 912S, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Kerrigan Robert
- Registered owner
- Kerrigan Robert
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · January 16, 2014 · 546 hours before
- Departed
- TPF · Tampa, FL
- Destination
- TPF · Tampa, FL
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Airframe parachute
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
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 13, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 220 total · 105 in this make and model · 189 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- MCF, 4 nm away
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 29, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.0 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.