- Date
- October 12, 2006, 15:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Marysville, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N9877SSorensen Searey
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 29, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20061012025669A
- Case key
- 65210
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 identify an unsafe condition (strong tidal currents) prior to a water landing, which resulted in the airplane nosing over when the pilot was unable to maintain aircraft control.
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 of the amphibious airplane said that he started the day by practicing seven water landings on a fresh water lake. He said he was flying back to his home base when he decided to do a landing in the brackish waters where two sloughs came together. He said the water landing went well, but when he continued with a high speed taxi, the aircraft nosed over. The pilot said that the front of the hull and the cockpit area were fractured and broken. The pilot said that he believes there was a strong tidal current in the area, and it contributed to the aircraft nosing over.
Factual narrative
On October 12, 2006, at approximately 1500 Pacific daylight time, a Sorensen Searey experimental homebuilt amphibious airplane, N9877S, was substantially damaged when it nosed over during a high-speed water taxi near Marysville, Washington. The private pilot, the sole person onboard, was not injured. The builder/owner was operating the airplane under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross-country, personal flight. A flight plan had not been filed.
The pilot said that he started the day by flying to Lake Washington, Seattle, Washington, where he practiced 7 water landings. He said he was flying back to his home base at Arlington, Washington, when he decided to do a landing in the brackish waters where Steamboat Slough and Ebey Slough came together. He said the water landing went well, but when he continued with a high speed taxi, the aircraft nosed over. The pilot said that the front of the hull and the cockpit area were fractured and broken. The pilot said that he believes there was a strong tidal current in the area, and it contributed to the aircraft nosing over.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9877S
- Reported as
- Sorensen Searey
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1DK175
- Airframe hours
- 35
- Engine
- Jabiru A3300, 120 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gerald P. Sorensen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · February 1, 2006 · 35 hours before
- Departed
- AWO · Arlington, WA
- Destination
- Marysville, WA
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
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 1, 2005
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,455 total · 35 in this make and model · 1,354 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- PAE, 11 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.