Event Sequence
The aircraft involved had landed after a previous flight and was refueled and preflighted for another mission. According to maintenance personnel, the aircraft floats were drained once each morning before the first flight of the day, in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations.
During takeoff from a seaplane base, the front right door window became open. The pilot leaned to the right to check that the door was closed and locked, and then continued the takeoff. When the aircraft became airborne, the pilot had to hold an abnormal amount of right aileron to keep the wings level. At that time, she noted that the aircraft was not accelerating and climbing properly. Observing high tension wires ahead, she elected to abort the takeoff. The aircraft was banked to the left and was landed hard while in a left wing low, forward slip.
Examination
The floats separated during the landing, and subsequently the aircraft came to rest in about 4 feet of salt water. No evidence of a preimpact failure was found, except that the left float had three popped rivets and a quantity of water.