Incident Overview
On January 16, 2026, at 1609 Pacific daylight time, a Lake LA-4-200 amphibious airplane, registration N48X, sustained substantial damage during a water landing on Lake Campbell near Dewey, Washington. The aircraft was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The flight instructor and student pilot were uninjured.
Flight Details
The flight instructor reported that he was conducting familiarization training with a student. The flight departed from Skagit Regional Airport (BVS) in Burlington/Mount Vernon, Washington, and proceeded to Lake Campbell to perform water landings.
Accident Sequence
Upon touching down on the water, the nose of the aircraft pitched forward, resulting in a broken windscreen and substantial damage to the airplane. Following the landing, the engine would not start, and the occupants paddled the aircraft to shore.
Preliminary Examination
A preliminary examination of the airplane revealed damage to the nose gear doors. The flight instructor believed that the nose landing gear was prevented from retracting completely due to wheel contact with the landing gear door. He stated that he had visually confirmed the main landing gear were retracted prior to landing using the convex mirrors located on the aircraft's sponsons.
Further Investigation
The airplane was retained for further examination.