- Date
- July 1, 2018, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Miami, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N14EDCessna A185
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Nose over/nose down
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 18, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180701015809A
- Case key
- 97654
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 retract the wheels of the amphibious airplane on takeoff, which resulted in a nose-over when the airplane landed on water with the wheels extended. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to use appropriate checklists.
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
According to the pilot, he inadvertently failed to retract the wheels of the amphibious airplane after takeoff from a hard surface runway. Upon arrival at his destination, he did not use the Before Landing checklist, and when the airplane touched down on the water with the wheels extended, it nosed over. The amphibious airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing lift strut, the empennage, the right wing aileron, the rudder, and the elevator. The pilot asserted that the accident was pilot error and that the accident could have been prevented if he had he used the checklist. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the amphibious airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, he inadvertently did not retract the wheels of the amphibious airplane after takeoff from a hard surface runway. Upon arrival at his destination, he did not use the before landing checklist and when the airplane touched down on the water with the wheels extended, it nosed over. The amphibious airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing lift strut, the empennage, the right wing aileron, the rudder, and the elevator. The pilot asserted that the accident was pilot error and that the accident could have been prevented had he used the checklist. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the amphibian airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N14ED
- Reported as
- Cessna A185 (F)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18502107
- Built
- 1972
- Airframe hours
- 169.5
- Engine
- Continental IO-520, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Tropic Ocean Airways LLC
- Registered owner
- Conch Republic Aviation Llc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 1, 2018
- Departed
- FLL · Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Destination
- X44 · Miami, FL
- Airport
- X44 · Miami
- Equipment
- 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
- 26
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 25, 2018
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 756.2 total · 20 in this make and model · 289.5 as pilot in command · 128.6 in the last 90 days · 36.2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- KMIA, 8 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 14, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.9 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.