History of Flight
On June 22, 2019, at about 1040 Pacific daylight time, a Maule M-7-235B amphibious airplane, registration N118G, operated as a personal flight under 14 CFR Part 91, was substantially damaged near Sunriver, Oregon. The pilot was fatally injured; a pilot-rated passenger sustained minor injuries.
According to the passenger, the flight was intended to evaluate airplane performance with two people onboard. After a normal engine run-up, the pilot commenced takeoff. The throttle was full forward and the engine sounded normal. The pilot rotated at about 65 knots with approximately 1,000 feet of runway remaining (runway length 5,461 ft). The airplane lifted off and remained in ground effect. When it climbed out of ground effect, the rate of climb was slow, and it became apparent the airplane would not clear 50-ft-tall trees across the river. The pilot maneuvered left, touched down on the Deschutes River, nosed over, and filled with water. The passenger stated he was unaware of the intended forced landing site until seconds before touchdown.
Two witnesses described the airplane as low and struggling to gain altitude. One witness reported that the engine "sounded like the pilot had not throttled up enough or the engine was bogging for some reason," and noted a "definite power loss" but no sputter or misfire. The airplane turned slowly left, continued losing altitude, and cleared large trees beside the river. The witness then heard a loud pop, saw a splash, and the tail flip over. Another witness said the airplane impacted tree tops.
Aircraft and Maintenance Information
The aircraft, an amphibious Maule M-7-235B, had its last maintenance on June 4, 2019, at tachometer time 967.7 hours. The exhaust system was sent for repairs during an annual inspection on June 22, 2011, at airframe total time 794.7 hours.
Wreckage and Impact Examination
The landing gear was found extended, and the water rudders were retracted. The pontoons had four visual landing gear position indicators, all showing wheels extended. Supplement 2 of the Maule Airplane Flight Manual states: "Do not land on water unless the landing gear is fully retracted."
The engine was examined after recovery. Initial attempt to run the engine resulted in start but inability to maintain power. Inspection of mufflers revealed broken baffles at the weld point. The left muffler baffling moved freely inside; the right muffler baffling was rotated 180° and obstructed the outlet port.
Both mufflers were removed and the engine restarted. Throttle was advanced to about 1,500 rpm; a magneto drop test showed a loss of about 100 rpm when magnetos were isolated. Power was then advanced to 2,400 rpm with no anomalies noted.
Per maintenance manual TLC-M-7-235A/B, rev. C (April 13, 2016) and Part 43, Appendix D, there is no requirement to check the inside of a muffler during annual or 100-hour inspections to ensure baffling is intact. The duration of the muffler condition could not be determined.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy by the Deschutes County Medical Examiner's Office determined the cause of death as drowning. A toxicology screen by the FAA's Forensic Sciences Laboratory detected no carboxyhemoglobin or ethanol in blood. Rosuvastatin was detected in blood and liver tissue; rosuvastatin is not impairing.