What happened
The aircraft was operating under an active company visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan over ocean water. During the flight, the pilot reported that weather conditions began to deteriorate, characterized by a lowering ceiling and reduced visibility. The pilot noted that the water surface became glassy and smooth, lacking any visual definition, which made it difficult to maintain forward visibility.
As the pilot attempted to turn back toward better VFR conditions, the weather worsened further, and the aircraft entered a fog bank. Due to these conditions, the pilot elected to perform a precautionary landing on the water. During the attempt, the pilot misjudged the aircraft's altitude due to the lack of visual references, resulting in a hard landing.
At 0655, weather observations approximately 14 nautical miles north of the landing site indicated calm winds and visibility of 7 statute miles with shallow fog. Cloud layers were reported at 900 feet scattered, 2,000 feet scattered, 5,000 feet broken, and 20,000 feet broken. The pilot reported that at the time of the landing, visibility, wind, and ceiling were all zero.
The investigation
The impact resulted in structural damage to the aircraft. The fuselage was bent and deformed, the fuselage skin showed wrinkling, and the dorsal stabilizer was also bent and wrinkled.