- Date
- December 6, 1992, 14:20 local (19:20 UTC)
- Place
- Shelton, CT
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N50DVHelio H-700
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921206049179A
- Case key
- 37274
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 check the position of the landing gear before attempting 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 amphibian airplane took off from a paved runway and was conducting a water landing. The pilot said, 'landed on river...immediate pitch forward to inverted.' The FAA inspector's examination of the airplane revealed that the landing gear handle was in the 'up' position, but the landing gear was in the 'down' position. The landing gear retraction circuit breaker was 'out,' thus rendering the landing gear retraction system inoperative. The circuit breaker was reset, and the landing gear was retracted several times. All landing gear indicator lights operated normally.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N50DV
- Reported as
- Helio H-700
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 201224
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540, 350 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- William Blau
- Registered owner
- William Blau
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- BDR · Bridgeport, CT
- Destination
- BDR
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,141 total · 340 in this make and model · 1,080 as pilot in command · 70 in the last 90 days · 28 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 37 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.