What happened
During a mission involving aerial photography of a mishap-related aircraft, the crew attempted a maneuver designed to simulate a water landing without making actual contact with the surface. The flight plan required the aircraft to fly at extremely low altitudes relative to the water. During this process, the co-pilot controlled the descent, bringing the aircraft type down to approximately 6 feet above the surface before further reducing the clearance to between 6 and 12 inches while maintaining an airspeed of 105 mph.
During this low-altitude flight, the aircraft made contact with the water. The impact caused a violent deceleration that led to the structural breakup of the airframe. The force of the impact ejected several occupants from the vessel, and the wreckage eventually came to rest in an inverted position. The incident resulted in seven fatalities and three injuries.
Findings
Analysis of aerial photography taken after the event revealed that the aircraft was in a nose-down attitude at the moment of impact, rather than a standard landing configuration. The initial contact with the water occurred near the nose landing gear doors. Post-impact examination showed significant damage, including the outward rupturing of the forward hull and the loss of the nose gear doors. Additionally, two parallel penetrations, measuring approximately 3 feet in length, were identified on the rear step of the hull.
Investigators noted that while the lagoon floor contained debris from petroleum exploration, they could not confirm if the aircraft struck a submerged object. The primary contributing factors included misjudged clearance by the co-pilot and inadequate supervision by the pilot in command. Other contributing elements identified were glassy water conditions and structural overload leading to the separation of landing gear components.