What happened
During a Sunday night operation, a crew responded to an emergency call from a fishing boat that was reportedly flooding approximately 20 miles away from the coastline. This mission followed a separate search effort that had lasted more than six hours immediately prior to this deployment. While attempting to drop a dewatering pump to the distressed vessel, the seaplane impacted the surface of the water.
The accident resulted in six fatalities, as all members of the crew were lost in the impact. Following the incident, search efforts were unable to locate any wreckage or remains of the aircraft or the personnel on board.
Findings
Official investigations into the crash could not reach a definitive conclusion due to a lack of physical evidence. While it was noted that the most likely scenario involved the pilot accidentally flying the aircraft into the water, investigators lacked sufficient data to confirm specific contributing factors. As a result, the cause of the accident remains officially undetermined.