Experimental Amphib Building Up Ponderous Accident Record
Another experimental Seawind (file photos, below) amphibious
SportPlane went down this past weekend, taking the lives of both
souls aboard. The Coast Guard reportedly found the remains of one
of the two people who were on board Seawind 3000 N88PS. The
aircraft went down in the Atlantic near Wrightsville Beach, NC, on
Sunday morning.
The aircraft was
reported as missing and possibly down at 0212 Sunday, with the
Coast Guard responding. The remains of a female occupant were
recovered later that morning and the search remains ongoing.
Witness reports in the local media indicate that the aircraft
was flying fairly low when it went down. According to witnesses
Michael Todd and his wife, they observed the aircraft while sitting
on a docked boat, nearby. “It was coming in low enough for us
to notice it... No time later it was going over Figure Eight Island
and my wife said, ‘Wow that’s going really
low.’”
Todd also reported that the he "could hear the engine revving
just before the plane went vertically into the ocean."
The Seawind 3000,
registered amateur-built/experimental, was owned
by Samson Flying Service of Wilmington, Del. It was powered by
a Lycoming IO-540 and was completed in 1997. No destination, origin
or other flight details were known by the FAA at the time of this
report, since the aircraft was not flying under any known flight
plan.
** Report created 8/29/2005 Record 24 **
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 88PS Make/Model: EXP Description: SEAWIND
Date: 08/28/2005 Time: 0600
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N
Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: WILMINGTON State: NC Country: US
DESCRIPTION
ACFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES INTO THE OCEAN, THE TWO
PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED, WILMINGTON, NC
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 2
# Crew: 2 Fat: 2 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
WEATHER: NOT REPORTED
OTHER DATA
Departed: Dep Date: Dep. Time:
Destination: Flt Plan: Wx Briefing:
Last Radio Cont: Last Clearance:
FAA FSDO: GREENSBORO, NC (SO05) Entry date: 08/29/2005
This is the fourth (known) fatal accident for a Seawind out of
some 50-60 flying aircraft. Previous accidents have killed five
people in three previous fatal accident reports. A February 11,
2000 in Cumberland Gap, VA, killed two when a Seawind went down in
IFR conditions, impacting with higher terrain. NTSB ruled the
probable cause(s) of the accident as, "The pilot's continued
flight from visual flight rules into instrument meteorological
conditions."
On November 30, 2002 in Bryant, WA, another Seawind (N313FC)
accident claimed two more. The NTSB narrative here is a bit more
problematic, noting that "The 1,570 hour pilot/builder, along with
a 9,000 hour commercial pilot (who had 150 hours experience in the
make/model), departed in the homebuilt Seawind 3000 amphibious
aircraft on a test flight after a little more than 12 hours of test
flying. After approximately 30 minutes witnesses observed the
aircraft go from a climb into a descending spiral. One witness
reported that he heard the engine quit while others described
varying engine sounds characteristic of decaying or intermittent
power. One witness observed the aircraft's wings rocking about the
longitudinal axis and 3/4 through the third spiral the nose
dropped. The aircraft impacted the ground in a near vertical
attitude with minimal evidence of horizontal motion through the
heavily wooded terrain of the crash site. A post-crash fire
consumed most of the aircraft. On site examination found no
evidence of mechanical malfunction with the aircraft's controls and
an engine disassembly and examination revealed the same findings
for the powerplant. Propeller slash marks along the side of one of
the trees at the ground impact site suggested a minimum of 1000 RPM
an instant before ground impact. The center of gravity was
estimated to be within limits at the time of the accident and the
stall speed of the aircraft was reported as 64 knots (clean)." The
NTSB reported the probable cause of this accident as "A loss of
engine power for undetermined reasons and the failure of the flying
pilot to maintain flying speed resulting in an inadvertent stall,
loss of control and subsequent collision with terrain."
Another fatality
resulted in the loss of the pilot. On June 18, 2005 in Sarasota,
FL, Seawind N7117 went down shortly after takeoff. The preliminary
NTSB report states that, "On June 18, 2005, at 1807 eastern
daylight time, a Rutherford homebuilt Seawind 3000, N7117,
registered to and operated by the Airline Transport Pilot, collided
into an unoccupied elementary school and burst into flames shortly
after takeoff from the Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport, in
Sarasota, Florida. The personal flight was operated under the
provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91, and visual flight rules. Visual
meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot received fatal injuries and the airplane sustained
substantial damage. The flight originated from the
Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport, in Sarasota, Florida, on
June 18, 2005 at 1757.
According to Air Traffic Controllers, the pilot requested a
visual departure towards the Venice, Florida airport and departed
the airport traffic area with a hand off to Tampa Approach Control.
The pilot made initial contact with Tampa Approach Control and
within two minutes the pilot requested a return to the Sarasota
Airport. Tampa Approach Control instructed the pilot to turn north
and issued a frequency change back to the Sarasota Airport Tower.
The pilot checked in with the tower and requested a landing
clearance back to Sarasota Airport. The controller issued a
clearance to runway 27. About one minute later the pilot made a
"mayday" call and declared that he was making a crash landing.
There was no further communication.
Witnesses stated that the airplane was flying slowly with
erratic lateral and pitch excursions. A witness at the crash site
stated that he could not hear any engine sounds before the airplane
first contacted the building. The airplane was recovered and moved
to a hangar at the Sarasota Airport for further examination."
Several other non-fatal Seawind accidents are on record. All
involved powerplant/fuel issues and extensive damage to the
aircraft... a troubling record for such a small fleet of aircraft,
even though the majority may be traced to pilot error or fuel
mismanagement issues.
The kit-built aircraft has been through a number of owners and
management issues over the years, settling down recently
though sales have slowed as the design's "newness" wore off. A
certificated version is reportedly in the works and repeated
promises of January 2006 certification are looked at by industry
insiders as "highly optimistic."