Incident Details
During a takeoff from a lake, a pilot decided to depart into the wind and climb over a 15-foot obstacle consisting of trees. The pilot attempted to lift off prematurely, causing the heel of a float to drag. The pilot later stated that at that moment he should have pulled the power off and rejected the takeoff. Instead, he pushed the nose of the airplane down, regained airspeed, and lifted off at the edge of the lake. As the airplane lifted off, the bottom of the floats scraped the edge of the shoreline. At an altitude of about 5 feet, the airplane collided with trees.
Pilot Account
In a report filed with the NTSB, the pilot stated that he misjudged the distance required for a safe takeoff. No further details were provided regarding the aircraft type, registration, number of occupants, or injuries.