Date & Time:
Mar 18, 1994 at 1143 LT
Type of aircraft:
Grumman G-73 Mallard
Operator:
Registration:
N150FB
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Positioning
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Key West Harbour - Key West
MSN:
J-51
YOM:
1950
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
2
Captain / Total hours on type:
3100
Aircraft flight hours:
17119
Circumstances:
The flightcrew had completed a 14 cfr part 135 charter flight and had landed in the harbor at Key West, Florida. They had moored the seaplane and departed. About an hour later, they reboarded the seaplane to fly it to an airport for refueling, then to return to the harbor to board the passengers. During takeoff, the seaplane was observed to pitch nose up, roll left, and crash nose down in the harbor. Due to the damage done by tidal flow and recovery attempts, the exact condition of the aft bilge drain plugs was unknown. During a check of the CVR recording, the crew was not heard to call out the bilge pumps during the before-takeoff checklist. After lift-off, both pilots made comments about keeping the nose down due to water in the aft portion of the aircraft. Both pilots were killed.
Probable cause:
Failure of the pilot-in-command to assure the bilges were adequately pumped free of water (adequately preflighted), which resulted in the aft center of gravity limit to be exceeded, and failure of the aircrew to follow the checklist. A factor related to the accident was: the water leak.
Final Report:
N150FB.pdf97.8 KB
