Loss of Control in Flight · NTSB ERA09LA325
SMITH BRET B SEAREY — Knoxville, TN
| Date | June 6, 2009 |
| Location | Knoxville, TN |
| Aircraft | SMITH BRET B SEAREY (amateur-built) |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Uncontrolled descent Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) |
| Pilot age | 40 |
| Pilot total time | 450 hrs · Building experience |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 2 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
What happened
The pilot was providing rides to passengers in an amateur-built seaplane, and following a previous uneventful local flight with another passenger, the pilot returned, landed, and the accident passenger boarded. The final moments of the accident flight were captured on video by pleasure boaters. The airplane overflew the boat at a low altitude, then entered a steep bank, descended steeply, and impacted the water. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the engine or flight controls. According to the experimental seaplane’s kit manufacturer, when equipped with a 100 horsepower engine and loaded with 2 occupants, the stall speed in level flight was 40 miles per hour.