- Date
- February 23, 2025, 14:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Tavares, FL
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N40DJDecker Daniel B Searey
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Nose over/nose down
- 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
- 20250223004179A
- Case key
- 199754
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 flare during a bounced water landing, which resulted in a nose-down and submersion of the airplane’s open cockpit in the water.
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 experimental amateur-built amphibous airplane reported that the wind was variable at 4 knots while he was attempting to land on a lake. The approach was normal; however, the airplane bounced 1 to 3 ft upon touchdown. The pilot opted not to abort the landing and recalled that when the airplane next contacted the water, the (open) cockpit was filled with water. The forward portion of the fuselage was substantially damaged during the accident sequence. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, and that the accident could have been prevented with more training on “…the importance of keeping the nose up during water landings.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N40DJ
- Reported as
- Decker Daniel B Searey
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 2470
- Built
- 2010
- Engine
- Rotax 914 Turbo, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- LNA · Lantana, FL
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- FA1 · Tavares Seaplane Base, runway 9, 3,000 × 200 ft, water
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Handheld GPS, Onboard weather, Satellite tracking device, ADS-B, Angle of attack indicator, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- May 1, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 300 total · 100 in this make and model · 250 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.16 inHg
- Observed at
- LEE, 4 nm away
- METAR
- KLEE 231853Z VRB04KT 10SM CLR 22/10 A3016 RMK AO2 SLP212 T02220100
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 9, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.8 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.