Richard Silva SEAWIND N46SW

Summary

On 12 October 2018 at about 14:30 local time, a Richard Silva SEAWIND registered N46SW was involved in an accident near Pocono Summit, Pennsylvania, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 October 2018 at 14:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Pocono Summit, Pennsylvania, United States

Coordinates

41.1225, -75.4133

Aircraft

Richard Silva SEAWIND

Registration

N46SW

Category

Airplane

Year built

1993

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pocono Summit → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA19CA051

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper decision to attempt to take off from a lake in high crosswind conditions, which resulted in the right wing lifting, the left wing impacting the water, and the airplane bouncing and then impacting the water hard. 

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he attempted to take off from a lake with a 20- to 30-knot crosswind. A video of the takeoff showed that, as the right wing lifted, the left wingtip contacted the water. Subsequently, the seaplane bounced and impacted the water hard with the nose oriented to the left. The pilot was able to correct the course heading and continued to water taxi without further incident. The pilot added that he should not have departed in high crosswind conditions and admitted to pilot error. The seaplane sustained substantial damage to the right aileron. The Federal Aviation Administration inspector who conducted a postaccident examination of the seaplane reported that he established flight control continuity and that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the seaplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.