Local Media Speculation Differs From Official Cause

The National Transportation Safety Board released its probable cause report on a float plane that went down in Wixom Lake near Edenville, MI, in November of last year... but local media question the Board's findings.

Pilot Martin L. Witkop, 62, drowned when his Maule MX-7-180B float plane (similar to type shown at bottom) went down in the lake and overturned. There were no direct witness of the actual accident; however, there were one that reported seeing a propeller-driven aircraft with floats approaching the lake as if to land. He noted it appeared to be in "level flight" and the "engine was running very smoothly."

About half an hour, officials received a report of an overturned boat near the dam, but it turned out to be the Maule, according to the NTSB report. No flight plan had been filed; Witkop reportedly planned to practice water landings at the lake. He reportedly had about 24 hours in a float plane.

This same witness reported seeing three military airplanes about five minutes prior to the float plane. He reported they were flying over at "tree top level" with one of them maneuvering, apparently to join formation with the other two.

"The flight of three aircraft proceeded northbound. (The witness) stated that the propeller-driven airplane was "considerably higher" than the military airplanes," said the report.

The official cause has been listed as, "The pilot's loss of control during landing on a lake resulting in the amphibian aircraft flipping over inverted."

But, the Saginaw News sees it differently. The newspaper speculated in its Tuesday edition turbulence from the military aircraft may have played a part in the November 15, 2006 accident.

The paper cites notes from the NTSB report of lack of damage to the aircraft's wings and that both pontoons were intact. There was no evidence the plane struck a fixed object, nor was there anything that could have been struck in the water to cause the inversion.

Michigan National Guard officials were unable to provide the News with information as to what type of military aircraft might have been in that area on that day or what they could have been doing there, the paper reported.

The newspaper cites the Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Manual advisory about wake turbulence that warns against flying below a large aircraft's flight path.

There has been no report of a follow-up with the NTSB on the part of the newspaper.

FMI: Read The NTSB Report