AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2018 - 97

make a forced landing on the dry lake bed if
we had any problems.
The next morning, we made four
uneventful passes over the lake. I monitored
the laser altimeter and made altitude callouts to the PIC. The first pass was at 800
feet descending to 600 feet with no altitude
readout over water; second was at 400 feet
descending to 250 feet with no altitude
readout over water; third was at about 100
feet with good altitude readouts; fourth was
at about 50 feet with good altitude readouts.
I said I wanted one more pass and thought
I indicated to test between 250 feet-where
we had no altitude readouts-and 100 feet-
where we had good altitude readouts.
During the fifth pass, I was alarmed at
how low we were. I quit making altitude
callouts and looked up to see why we were
flying so low. The PIC, perhaps believing
we were in level flight, continued descending until the bottom of the cowling struck
the water. The water forced the nose up.
Fortunately, the sudden increase in pitch
was enough to compensate for the reduction in airspeed from the water drag and the
aircraft climbed out of the water.
Our temporary relief turned to fear. The
engine rpm was high, and the propeller
pitch control didn't have any effect. We were
10 nm southwest of the closest airport-U77.
We quickly decided to return. We called on
the Springville CTAF that we wanted a nonstandard right base approach to Runway 12.
As we approached the airport we saw
trucks and personnel working off the
approach end of Runway 12. On short final,
we lowered the landing gear and lost altitude
as the landing gear deployed. We were low
enough I could almost see the expression on
the ground personnel's faces as they scattered.
It looked like we might clear the trucks but
shear off the landing gear on the exposed end
of the runway concrete under construction.
We cleared the trucks and by some miracle
the main gear touched down on the runway.
The seriousness of the situation became
more apparent when we taxied back to the
hangar. Even at a high engine rpm, the aircraft could barely taxi. We would later learn
the propeller governor was damaged, both
propeller tips were rolled back from striking the water, and one of the blades was at
risk of coming off. In hindsight, a gear-up

landing on the dry lake bed would have been
more expensive but more prudent.
A very upset airport manager arrived
at the hangar just after we shut down the
engine. I imagine he was about to dress us
down, but he stopped when he saw the condition of the aircraft.
The question I have asked myself many
times is: How could two conscientious
pilots put themselves in this situation?
I use the PAVE and IMSAFE checklists
when preparing for a flight. All looked good. I
know the FAA hazardous attitudes and avoid
them. I have come to the conclusion we were
doing a flight maneuver we were not trained
for, had not accounted for all the risks, and
had not sufficiently established the division of
responsibilities and communication between
the PIC and me. Every seaplane pilot will tell
you judging height over water can be difficult,
particularly when the water is calm. We were
two pilots with no seaplane experience flying
extremely low over calm water. We should
have established a floor; I should have spoken up when I was uncomfortable with how
low we were.
I have a new rule. I ask myself: Am I
operating an aircraft outside performance
limitations in the pilot's operating handbook?
Am I performing maneuvers I have not been
trained to do? Am calibrating an instrument
using unpublished procedures? Am I operating an aircraft less than 500 feet above water
for a maneuver other than a normal takeoff or
landing? If the answer is yes to any of these
questions, I am a test pilot. I am not qualified to be a test pilot, so, I should not be
doing any of those things.
On the up side, reviewing the altitude
reported by the laser altimeter when the
aircraft struck the water, we concluded the
laser altimeter was reporting height above
the surface of the water. I guess you could
say our foray into being test pilots was successful, but could have come at a cost I have
no interest in paying.
AOPA
STEVEN DAVIES is a private pilot who lives in

Ontario, Canada.
DIGITAL EXTRA Hear this and

other original "Never Again"
stories as podcasts every month
on iTunes and download audio
files free (www.aopa.org/
never_again).

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 97

Giving you
options
to save, it's
kind of our
thing

SAVE MORE,
FLY MORE
aopainsurance.org
888.255.2672
http://www.aopa.org/never_again http://www.aopainsurance.org http://www.aopa.org/pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2018
