- Date
- December 15, 2006, 13:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Palm Beach Gard, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N554FSRichard F. Sheldon Aventura II
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 26, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- FAA report
- 20061215027489A
- Case key
- 65063
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 maintain the proper airspeed during takeoff, which resulted in a stall.
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 stated that he was taking off on the Inter-Coastal Waterway, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and during the takeoff run the aircraft hit a swell which catapulted it airborne. The aircraft then stalled, and descended impacting the water, incurring substantial damage. According to the pilot, prior to the accident there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions to the aircraft or any of its systems.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that he was taking off on the Inter-Coastal Waterway, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and during the takeoff roll the aircraft hit a swell which catapulted it airborne. The aircraft then stalled, and descended impacting the water first with its left wing, incurring substantial damage. According to the pilot, prior to the accident there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions to the aircraft or any of its systems.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N554FS
- Reported as
- Richard F. Sheldon Aventura II
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- AP2A0031
- Airframe hours
- 135
- Engine
- Rotax 912, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard F. Sheldon
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · April 1, 2006 · 35 hours before
- Departed
- F45 · N Palm Bch Cty, FL
- Destination
- F45
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
- 52
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- December 1, 2006
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 204 total · 147 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- PBI
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.