- Date
- July 25, 2024, 16:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Catskill, NY · Hudson River
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1166LLake LA4
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- 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
- 20240725009249A
- Case key
- 194770
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 maintain control of the airplane during a takeoff from water in gusting wind conditions.
Findings · 3
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 reported that he landed on a river uneventfully. After taxiing on the river for a while, he noticed that the wind had increased when he attempted to take off. As soon as the airplane lifted off from the water, it settled back down and violently turned 90°. The pilot added that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that he was able to taxi to a boat ramp after the impact with water. The airplane’s empennage was substantially damaged during the accident. The reported weather at an airport located 28 miles away from the accident site, about the time of the accident, included a left quartering headwind at 9 knots, gusting to 22 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1166L
- Reported as
- Lake LA4
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 328
- Built
- 1965
- Airframe hours
- 177
- Engine
- Lycoming IO360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 11, 2024 · 1 hours before
- Destination
- 1B1 · Hudson, NY
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, ADS-B, Stall warning system
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
- 71
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 1, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 510 total · 410 in this make and model · 510 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 9 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- PSF, 28 nm away
- METAR
- KPSF 252054Z AUTO 29009G22KT 10SM SCT055 24/12 A3001 RMK AO2 SLP136 T02440122 56007
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 4, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.3 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.