SMA AMPHIBIAN PLT CONTACTED BY FAA INSPECTOR AND CHARGED WITH LOW FLT OVER WATER OP.

Date: 1991-09 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far

Synopsis

SMA AMPHIBIAN PLT CONTACTED BY FAA INSPECTOR AND CHARGED WITH LOW FLT OVER WATER OP.

Narrative

ON SEP/FRI/91; I RECEIVED A TELEPHONE CALL FROM THE FAA OFFICE IN FT LAUDERDALE; FL; INFORMING ME THAT AN FAA INSPECTOR HAD RPTED A LOW FLYING ACFT; IDENTED AS ME AND HAD FILED A RPT. I IDENTED MYSELF AS THE PIC ON THAT FLT AND ANSWERED SEVERAL QUESTIONS OF ME. UPON REACHING THE FT LAUDERDALE AREA; NBOUND; I SPOTTED A GOOD AREA TO DIVE IN. I MADE 1 WIDE 360 DEG TURN AND CAME IN APPROX 1000 FT OFF SHORE TO LAND IN SMOOTHER WATER. THEN DECIDING THAT THERE WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TIME TO DIVE; I DISCONTINUED THE LNDG AND CONTINUED NBOUND; RETURNING TO LANTANA ARPT AT APPROX XA15 P.M. THE ALT FOR THE LNDG AT FT LAUDERDALE WAS FLOWN AT 100 FT WITH SHALLOW BANKS. 1 360 DEG TURN WAS MADE THROUGH THE ENTIRE FLT. ALTHOUGH THE ALT WAS LOW; THE AIRPLANE WAS ALWAYS IN A POS TO MAKE A SAFE EMER LNDG ON THE WATER. I WOULD HAVE MAINTAINED AT LEAST 500- 1000 FT OVER THE WATER IF FLYING IN A LAND AIRPLANE. IT IS NORMAL TO ABORT A LNDG JUST BEFORE TOUCHDOWN AND NORMAL TO MAKE SEVERAL PASSES TO CHK THE LNDG AREA AND ALERT PEOPLE IN THE WATER OF AN INTENDED LNDG.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.