- Date
- March 29, 2025, 11:50 local (15:50 UTC)
- Place
- Winter Haven, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N38BSPiper PA-18-150
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Fuel starvation
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 2025
- 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
- 20250329006769A
- Case key
- 200189
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 inadvertent movement of the fuel selector to a position that restricted fuel flow to the engine, which resulted in the loss of engine power during takeoff.
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
During an instructional flight, the flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction took off from a lake and began a normal climb. At a height of about 200 to 300 feet, the engine began losing power, and the flight instructor assumed control of the airplane. As the instructor maneuvered the airplane away from marine traffic, the engine lost power completely. The airplane contacted the water hard, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing strut and fuselage. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the fuel selector was not in the right fuel tank detent. The examination otherwise revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the engine or fuel system that would have precluded normal operation. The engine was later started and test run normally with the right fuel tank selected, and when the valve was positioned slightly out of the right fuel tank detent, the engine began losing power within about 30 seconds. Given this information, it is likely that the pilot inadvertently moved the fuel selector in a position that restricted fuel flow to the engine, which resulted in the loss of engine power during takeoff.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N38BS
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-8505
- Built
- 1967
- Airframe hours
- 7,233.8
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Jack Browns Seaplane Base Inc
- Registered owner
- Jack Browns Seaplane Base Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 5, 2025 · 47 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- F57 · Jack Browns Seaplane Base, runway 19W, 3,600 × 2,200 ft, water
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 32
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 23, 2024
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 523.5 total · 112.2 in this make and model · 451 as pilot in command · 128.1 in the last 90 days · 44.8 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 47
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Waiver time limited special
- Last flight review
- April 15, 2024
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 464.1 total · 7 in this make and model · 270.5 as pilot in command · 90 in the last 90 days · 26.1 in the last 30 days · 3.9 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- GIF
- METAR
- KGIF 291653Z AUTO 13010KT 100V160 10SM FEW044 28/16 A3018 RMK AO1 SLP218 T02780161
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 6, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.1 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.