Seaplane crash in 20 mile bay?

[Lakesrider]

Noticed a "Lake" amphibian aircraft beached next to Rt109 today on the way home. The nose/bow was crushed in and they were taking the wings off it....Looks like they were getting ready to haul it out and trailer it somewhere.
Just an FYI.:D

[Seaplane Pilot]

Wasn't me! :D

[NoBozo]

Laconia Airport used to have a BIG "Lake" Sales & Service Center. Don't know if it's still there. A friend of mine had the interior of his "Lake" completely redone there a few years ago. :) NB

[sky_nh]

This has been a tough summer for GA flying. I am up in Maine now and we've had some six fatalities since the beginning of August. It might just be the good weather and the increase in VFR flights so that the ratio of fatalities to hours flown is about the same.

Regardless, the accident rate seems high and I can only hope that the Lake was just a "fender-bender" and that no one was hurt.

-- Sky

[BroadHopper]

Just TM the owner of Lake sales. Will find out more later.

Rarely do you hear a Lake crash. The plane is built like a tank. And to be certified to fly takes 20 hours with a qualified instructor.

[AC2717]

it was not the new seaplane tours person out of paugus bay was it?

[BroadHopper]

The tours are done and seaplanes, not amphibians. :D

[ApS]

My Dad, who doesn't seem to miss anything :rolleye1: saw it there at 11:40-AM this morning. Due to the auto traffic, he didn't get a good look at it, but said it was inside the swimlines. The nose appeared crumpled, as previously stated.

(Interesting note: Landing gear is normally lowered to minimize damage in these circumstances: it is unknown if that action was accomplished with this aircraft).

Wasn't me! :D
Your seaplane avatar suggests Chalk-Airways, with whom Dad piloted Grummans for a decade. Any connection to Chalk Airways? :confused:

[NoBozo]

To clarify Broadhoppers post..The Seaplane Tour plane out of Paugus IS an Amphibian. An Amphibian by definition is an aircraft that can land on LAND with Wheels.....AND....land on WATER. The wheels are retracted when landing on water.

The Seaplane Tours Cessna 206 is a Floatplane. (Also has wheels..ie: Amphibian) Look closely at the pictures on the Seaplane thread.

The Lake Amphibian is a Flying Boat. The plane actually lands on the fusulage...not floats. :) NB

[Lakesrider]

I am not sure it crashed per say, just that it had a big dent on the starboard front of the plane and that they were taking it apart there. So I would just assume somethin' not good happened. But, who knows....:D

[gf2020]

I saw that same plane this afternoon off 109, around 3:30. I didn't notice the dent, I figured they just had it at shore for servicing.

[ApS]

"...it had a big dent on the starboard front of the plane...But, who knows....:D
"Gassing the Geese" is much less expensive! :laugh:

[thom45]

Last Sunday, the 15th, around noon, I was heading from Melvin Bay towards the Graveyard. As I came by Black Island there were several boats stopped and I noticed something low in the water that took me a few seconds to identify it as a seaplane. He was coming from the shallows over by Black Island and headed towards Hersey Point. We noted that he was very low in the water as the base of his wings were barely out of the water and my daughter thought the front looked quite low. My thought was that it looked like he had taken on water when he landed. He taxied very slowly over to Hersey Point and it looked like he beached it in a shallow cove area.
We continued on our ride and returned thru that area over an hour later. The plane was still there, but there was no sign of any change and it didn't appear that there was any MP or anyone else official looking around so I figured it couldn't be much of anything.
All I can speculate is that the wind was kicking the lake up some and possibly when he landed over by Black Island he caught a rock and beached it to prevent it from sinking.

[NoBozo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Aircraft :) NB

[20mile]

It looks like the plane had an issue on the lake. It was towed to 20 mile bay and then removed from the water.

[cowisl]

So what happened?

[Grant]

It was a neighbor of ours, who was attempting to take off, when a large boat wake hit their front. There was damage to plane, which hobbled back to their dock. It was towed to 20 Mile Bay to have wings removed and to be towed to a repair facility. No one injured.

[ApS]

:) Thanks, Grant, for that update!

1) As the the captain of the vessel is responsible for the damage his wake leaves behind, I'd be concerned that the pilot would be $tudying all po$$ible lake cam$ to $ee which boat left that wake. :eek2:

2) I saw a Lake amphibian flying over Rattlesnake Island yesterday, flying NE, towards Grant's general area. Could the same amphibian already be "airworthy", and up in the air...

...Grant?

[LIforrelaxin]

APS,

The amount of time it will / or has taken to repair the plane is quite variable. My assumption is that the plane is not repaired at this point. Especially is insurance is involved. However that aside. I have a friend who is certified as an mechanic and inspector by the FAA for small planes. Fixing the damage is one thing getting the plane airworthy is another... what might look like minor outer sheet metal damage could be much more extensive. I am sure that if the nose was shoved in most of the nose will be taken apart, all of the inner structure will be inspected for any damage what so ever. And then it will all be slowly put back together. Now if the person working on the plane has the certificates to do not only the work but sign off as the inspector it isn't bad, but if the person doing the work has to get an inspector in to look at this, it is another time frame altogether.....

Now also if they took the wings off, etc. all of that has to be put back together, and rerigged etc.... once again, the work needs to be done and it all needs to be inspected, and signed off on...

In short, this plane is probably on the ground for a month or more.....