- Date
- June 21, 2024, 18:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- Sopchoppy, FL · On the river at 118 Easy St. South
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N425UWAdams Walter R Searey
- Defining event
- Landing: 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
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240621010839A
- Case key
- 194532
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 landing flare, which resulted in abnormal contact with the water during 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 non-certificated pilot of the amphibious airplane reported that he was approaching a river for landing “too fast,” and that during the touchdown on the water he did not “have the yoke pulled back enough.” When he fully released the control yoke, and the airplane’s nose immediately pitched down into the water, resulting in substantial damage to the fiberglass hull. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N425UW
- Reported as
- Adams Walter R Searey (LS Classic)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1MK-208
- Built
- 2012
- Engine
- Rotax 912S, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- NONE · Ochlockonee River
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Angle of attack indicator, Onboard weather
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
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 150 total · 6 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- TLH, 20 nm away
- METAR
- KTLH 212253Z 04007KT 10SM FEW075 34/17 A3003 RMK AO2 SLP169 T03440167
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 4, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.8 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.