- Date
- February 9, 1994, 16:30 local (Feb 10, 1994, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Valley Springs, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4833CCessna A185F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 19, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940209002069A
- Case key
- 28660
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 ensure that the landing gear was in the correct configuration for a water landing.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot said that he had just recently purchased the aircraft and had completed 5 hours of instruction in it just before the accident flight. The pilot reported that before he left for home he wanted to make one more water landing and flew to the New Hogan Lake Reservoir. The pilot said he forgot to raise the wheels when he departed the San Andreas land airport, and on touchdown in the lake, the aircraft nosed over.
Factual narrative
On February 9, 1994, at 1630 Pacific standard time, an amphibian equipped Cessna A185F, N4833C, landed in a lake near Valley Springs, California, with the wheels extended and nosed over onto its back. The aircraft was owned and operated by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft incurred substantial damage. The certificated airline transport pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated at the San Andreas, California, airport on the day of the mishap at 1600 hours as a local area flight to the lake.
In a telephone interview, the pilot said he had just recently purchased the aircraft and had completed 5 hours of instruction in it just before the accident flight. The pilot reported that before he left for home he wanted to make one more water landing and flew to the New Hogan Lake Reservoir. The pilot said he forgot to raise the wheels when he departed the San Andreas land airport, and on touchdown in the lake, the aircraft nosed over.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4833C
- Reported as
- Cessna A185F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 185-02601
- Airframe hours
- 2,146
- Engine
- Continental IO-550-D2B, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Alberto G. Rossi
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 1993 · 67 hours before
- Departed
- 0O3 · San Andreas, CA
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- NONE · Lake Hogan Seaplane Base
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
- 37
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,055 total · 92 in this make and model · 3,751 as pilot in command · 123 in the last 90 days · 35 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.