What happened
On June 29, 2013, at approximately 15:30, a Cessna 185D floatplane crashed into the water at Vehmersalmi, near Kuopio, Finland. The aircraft had taken off from the Vehmersalmi guest harbor and performed a descending turn back toward the takeoff point. The pilot intended to execute a low-altitude flypast in front of a large crowd gathered for a public event.
During the maneuver, the pilot flew the aircraft at an altitude of only 1–2 meters above the water, violating minimum altitude regulations. After flying approximately 2/3 of a kilometer at this height, the right float struck the water. The impact caused both floats to detach, the aircraft's empennage to break, and the plane to somersault forward before rapidly sinking.
While two occupants perished due to the severity of their injuries, one passenger survived. The survivor, wearing a life vest, surfaced approximately one minute after the crash and was rescued by nearby boats. The water depth at the site was between 14 and 17 meters.
The investigation
The investigation examined the aircraft's structural integrity, the pilot's flight parameters, and the environmental conditions. Investigators found that the weather was suitable for flight, with light winds and good visibility. However, the nearly calm water surface made it difficult to accurately judge the aircraft's altitude.
A critical finding involved the aircraft's interior safety equipment. The wires used to secure the middle seat belts had broken during the impact. According to the manufacturer, these fastenings were not installed according to original instructions. Additionally, investigators noted that the water-activated automatic inflation features had been removed from the life vests, which prevented them from inflating prematurely inside the sinking aircraft and aided the survivor's escape.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was the pilot's decision to perform a low-altitude flypast in front of a crowd, which led to an error in altitude judgment.
- Contributing factors included the pilot's desire to perform a highly spectacular maneuver, the difficulty of judging height over a nearly mirror-like water surface, and the pilot's limited recent experience with similar low-altitude flight situations.
- The failure of the seat belt attachments, which were improperly installed and showed signs of rust, contributed to the occupants being unable to exit the aircraft.