# NTSB SEA07LA011: Sorensen Searey, N9877S, Marysville, WA, October 12, 2006 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: October 12, 2006, 15:00 local (22:00 UTC) - Place: Marysville, WA - Coordinates: 48.034168, -122.190002 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=48.0342&lon=-122.1900&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Taxi](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/250) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report May 29, 2007 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: FAA FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 65210 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=SEA07LA011 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/65210/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA07LA011 ## 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 In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of control - on ground/water, taxi - aircraft control - not possible, pilot in command (cause) - terrain condition - water - unsafe/hazardous condition - not identified, pilot in command (cause) - Nose over, taxi ## 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](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N9877S-2013-01-18), registration cancelled 2013-01-18, S/N 1DK175, built 2005 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Sorensen Searey - Registry model: [Sorensen Gerald P SEAREY](https://openairdocs.org/model/sorensen-gerald-p-searey) (registry code 056206L) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Amateur-built UNKNOWN ENG](https://openairdocs.org/engine/amateur-built-unknown-eng) (registry code 99999) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane, amateur-built - Serial number: 1DK175 - Airframe hours: 35 - Engines: 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 ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 64; injuries: none; 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20061012025669A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20061012025669A), Oct 12, 2006: Amtr SEAREY, Everett, WA, Substantial damage. (-23) The pilot [privacy data omitted] states that after performing touch and gos on lake Washington, he flew to the Everett area and landed on steamboat… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.