- Date
- April 22, 1995, 19:20 local (23:20 UTC)
- Place
- Orlando, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N773GFabre Searay Bombadier
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 31, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950422012789A
- Case key
- 37762
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 abrupt use of the flight controls,by the pilot-in-command while taxiing on water that resulted in the airplane capsizing.
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 was taxiing after landing and noted an alligator to his left. He stated he abruptly applied aileron flight control input and the right wing collided with the water, and the airplane sank.
Factual narrative
On April 22, 1995, about 1920 eastern daylight time, a Searey Bombadier, N773G, registered to Pelican Corp., crashed while landing at Lake Eustis, Orlando, Florida, while on a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft was substantially damaged and the private-rated pilot was not injured. The flight originated from Ghetto Air Park, Orlando, Florida, about 1851, the same day.
The pilot stated that after landing, while water taxiing on Lake Eustis, he saw an alligator to the left of the taxiing path. He raised the left wing to avoid the alligator, which resulted in the right wing hitting the water at a 20-degree angle. The airplane then sank and the pilot exited the airplane without injury, and was rescued by a passing boat within about 5 minutes.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N773G
- Reported as
- Fabre Searay Bombadier (SEARAY BOM)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1DK051
- Airframe hours
- 43
- Engine
- Rotax 912, 80 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Jean Fabre
- Registered owner
- Pelican Corporation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
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
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 320 total · 50 in this make and model · 275 as pilot in command · 70 in the last 90 days · 37 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ORL, 24 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.