- Date
- July 20, 2026, 08:12 local (12:12 UTC)
- Place
- Morgan, VT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N528MWRans S-6-S
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 1, 2026
- 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
- 20260720009209A
- Case key
- 203434
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 takeoff, resulting in an aerodynamic stall and impact with water.
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 was attempting to take off from a glassy water surface. The pilot had trouble getting the airplane “unstuck” from the water surface, so he pulled back on the control stick “extra hard.” This action broke the floats free from the surface tension but created a nose-high pitch attitude that resulted in the airplane entering an aerodynamic stall. The left float then impacted the water and it broke loose from the airplane before striking the underside of the left wing, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing. The airplane came to rest upright but slowly began to sink. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N528MW
- Reported as
- Rans S-6-S (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 11981279-5
- Built
- 2002
- Airframe hours
- 649
- Engine
- Rotax 912UL, 80 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 2, 2002 · 9 hours before
- Equipment
- 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
- 66
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 29, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,868 total · 174 in this make and model · 1,868 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.94 inHg
- Observed at
- EFK, 18 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KEFK 201155Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 15/11 A2994 RMK AO2 T01470113 10154 20085=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 1, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.2 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.