On 10 Aug 2015, a CESSNA A185F F was involved in an aviation accident near Emily, MN. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to retract the landing gear, which resulted in a gear down water landing and a nose over. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.
A pilot of an amphibious floatplane reported that distraction during initial climb led to forgetting to retract the landing gear, and failure to perform the before-landing checklist resulted in landing on a lake with gear down, causing the aircraft to nose over.
Incident
The pilot of an amphibious float-equipped airplane reported that during the initial climb from an airport runway, he was distracted by other airport traffic and forgot to retract the landing gear. As he approached his destination, which was a lake, he stated he did not perform the before landing checklist as he usually does, and failed to notice that the landing gear was still down. The pilot reported that his touchdown was smooth, but the airplane immediately nosed over and he felt "a fire hose of water" come through the windscreen. After the airplane came to rest, the pilot reported that he was submerged underwater, but was able to remain calm and slip out the pilot side window. The fuselage sustained substantial damage.
Contributing Factors
The pilot stated there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.