ANC12GA114 · Quest Aircraft Company LLC KODIAK 100

The pilot was landing an amphibious float-equipped airplane in a lake on the final leg of a 4 day, public-use wildlife survey. The pilot stated she had not conducted a water landing recently, so she elected to land on the water to maintain proficiency. Before landing, the pilot completed the before landing checklist, set approximately 50 percent right rudder trim, and confirmed the wheels were in the up position. She noted that her airspeed on approach was slightly faster than normal. During touchdown, the airplane veered to the left and then to the right. The airplane then veered violently to the right, as though it "caught a float," and the right wing struck the water. The airplane then pivoted abruptly to the right, cartwheeled, and the wreckage began to sink.

An NTSB postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Because the airplane was operated as a public aircraft operation, the Department of Interior's (DOI) training program was not subject to the civil aircraft requirements. An NTSB review of the flight training program revealed a general outline with hour requirements. The flight training program did not include curriculums, events, or testing and checking procedures. No written maneuvers and procedures guide, with acceptable performance standards was developed, therefore no standardization existed within the pilot group, and tribal knowledge and experimentation were accepted as part of the organizations culture. Multiple checklists existed for the airplane, and pilots were allowed to use whichever checklist they preferred. DOI did not/nor were they required to incorporate best practices and industry standards into their training program and airplane operations, and no FAA oversight was required or provided. Vendor pilot requirements were substantially higher with stricter standards, and required FAA oversight, compared to those of agency pilots flying similar missions.

The pilot stated that, during her interagency pilot evaluation/qualification check, step turns were not completed. The pilot said that the check pilot was not comfortable performing the maneuver, so they agreed to sign off the maneuver on the check ride form but did not accomplish the task. Although the pilot had logged 232 hours and 68 water landings, only 2 water landings were logged without an instructor onboard.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset