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WPR23LA101

2023-01-29 · Dallesport, Washington, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The flight instructor’s failure to see and avoid a channel marker during a step taxi in preparation for takeoff on the water.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor of an amphibious float-equipped airplane reported that, he was demonstrating to the student pilot a water landing and step taxi from the back seat. While in the step taxi and preparing to takeoff, the student alerted the flight instructor to a channel hazard marker directly in front of the airplane. The flight instructor was unable to respond before the left wing and left side float collided with the marker about a second later. The left wing and left side float separated from the fuselage resulting in substantial damage. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Sign/marker-Ability to respond/compensate

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_WPR23LA101.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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