Textron Aviation Inc 208B N143CA accident near New York, New York

Probable cause

The pilot’s improper decision to rush his departure, which resulted in a rough water encounter and collision with the wake of a passing ferry boat.

NTSB analysis

The pilot explained that there was nothing wrong with the amphibious airplane as he completed his seven previous flights that day and began his eighth takeoff from a river. During the takeoff, the airplane “struck a very strong wake and felt the wing might have hit the wake” but he continued the takeoff. Once in flight, the pilot saw damage beneath the left wing and diverted to the airplane’s base at a nearby airport. A post-landing inspection revealed that the left wing sustained substantial damage.

The “dockhand” said the pilot rushed him to his place in the right front seat in an effort to outrace the wake of a 600-passenger, high-speed ferry crossing their takeoff path. He took his seat and buckled his seat belt when the airplane was “already on the move,” and during the takeoff run, the airplane was “rocked around by the choppy water in the river and hit the wake of the [ferry].”

The dockhand said he’d flown in the right seat with several different pilots from the same river location, and that “every one of them would wait for the wake to diminish before trying to launch.”

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA24LA372 for the full record.