What happened
A witness on a vessel in the water observed a single engine seaplane flying north, parallel to a shoreline, at approximately 500 feet above the water. Roughly one minute later, the witness observed the aircraft flying on a southerly heading at a very low altitude, described as being at tree-top level.
As the airplane passed, the nose of the aircraft pitched up while the tail moved downward. The tail of the aircraft struck a tree, causing the plane to veer to the left. Subsequently, the edge of the left wing impacted a second tree, which caused the aircraft to rotate further to the left. The left wing then dropped as the right wing struck additional trees. During this sequence, the witness noted that the engine was at full power.
At the time of the accident, the pilot had logged 26.1 hours in the specific aircraft with floats attached and a total of 32.1 hours of single engine seaplane experience.