- Date
- December 15, 2020, 16:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Orlando, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5023LLake LA-4-200
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- FAA report
- 20201215018749A
- Case key
- 102426
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 recovery from a bounced landing.
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 of the amphibious airplane departed the lake with a passenger, landed at a nearby airport where he deplaned the passenger, and was returning to the lake for landing. When the pilot reached the lake, he noted that it was hard to judge the airplane’s distance above the calm, glassy water while landing into the direction of the setting sun. Following the landing flare, the airplane “floated” a considerable distance before bouncing multiple times. The pilot then concluded he could neither complete the landing nor abort the landing before striking structures or other obstacles on the shore and deliberately nosed the airplane into the water to arrest its forward progress. As a result, the airplane’s fuselage and right wing were substantially damaged. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5023L
- Reported as
- Lake LA-4-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 480
- Airframe hours
- 1,952.2
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-AIB, 200 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Island Hoppers Seaplanes 2 LLC
- Registered owner
- Island Hoppers Seaplanes 2 LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 27, 2020
- Departed
- AVO · Avon Park, FL
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- NONE · Lake
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 65
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 12, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 256.3 total · 14.9 in this make and model · 256.3 as pilot in command · 8.4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.94 inHg
- Observed at
- KORL, 9 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 28, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 514 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 N5023L · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.