Accident · 2006-05-22

What the record says

Event date

2006-05-22

Event type

Accident

Highest injury level

Serious injury

Aircraft

de Havilland DHC-2 (N1543)

Operating rule

Part 135

Operator

Andrew Airways, Inc Matched by aircraft (N-number)

Probable cause

The pilot's inadequate evaluation of the weather conditions, and his selection of unsuitable terrain (rough water) for takeoff, which resulted in a collision with ocean swells during takeoff initial climb, and a hard emergency landing and a roll over. Factors contributing to the accident were a windshear, rough water, and buckling of the float assemblies when the airplane struck the waves.

Flight crew

Flight-crew details for this event aren't in the NTSB database extract we hold (its coverage starts with 2008 events) — a gap in our data, not an absence of crew.