NTSB CAROL · Event
Event MKC89LA145
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT'S IMPROPER FLARE DURING THE WATER LANDING. THE PILOT'S LACK OF RECENT EXPERIENCE IN SEAPLANE OPERATIONS AND THE LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THE ACCIDENT AIRCRAFT CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT.
Factual narrative
THE PILOT TOOK THE ACFT FOR A LOCAL FLIGHT TO INCLUDE LANDINGS ON ELY LAKE WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF A FLT INSTRUCTOR. WITNESSES OBSVRD THE ACFT BOUNCE HARD DURING THE FIRST LANDING ATTEMPT. THEY FURTHER OBSERVED THE ACFT SETTLE RIGHT WING AND FLOAT LOW UNTIL IMPACTING THE WATER AGAIN. DURING THE SUBSEQUENT WATER IMPACT THE ACFT NOSED OVER INVERTED. THE PILOT HAD NOT MAINTAINED CURRENCY IN THE ACFT, WITH FLT RECORDS INDICATING NO SIMILAR FLT SINCE AUGUST, 1988. POST-IMPACT INSPECTION OF THE ACFT FAILED TO REVEAL ANY PRE-IMPACT FAILURE/MALFUNCTION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_MKC89LA145.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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