14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, March 17, 2012 in Otisfield, ME
Probable Cause Approval Date: 10/09/2012
Aircraft: SADLER TERRY A MERLIN, registration: N6113Y
Injuries: 1 Serious.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The pilot purchased the airplane 7 years before the accident but had only accumulated 1 hour of flight time in it. Prior to the accident, the pilot and a friend performed adjustments to the airplane's floats. The pilot then taxied on the lake and departed for a local flight. A witness stated that as the airplane reached an altitude of 100 feet, it banked to the right slightly and then banked hard to the left and pitched down. The airplane impacted the frozen lake in a nose-down attitude, bounced, and came to rest, breaking the ice. Postaccident examination of the airplane found no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during takeoff, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was his lack of experience in the airplane make and model.
On March 17, 2012, at 1230 eastern daylight time, N6113Y, an experimental, amateur built Merlin airplane, was substantially damaged during takeoff from Pleasant Lake, Maine. The certificated private pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight.
According to a witness, he and the pilot made adjustments to the aircraft floats prior to the pilot's departure from the frozen lake.
The witness reported that the pilot taxied on the ice, and then departed to the north. As the airplane reached an altitude of approximately 100 feet, the right wing "dipped a little" and the airplane banked "hard left and went down." The airplane impacted the frozen lake nose first and bounced, before impacting again and breaking the ice.
In a telephone interview with the pilot, he reported that he purchased the airplane in 2005 and has flown about 1 hour in the airplane since then. The most recent flight he conducted took place a few weeks prior to the accident. During that flight, the airplane "pulled to the right." As a result, the pilot made adjustments to the floats to assure they were aligned properly.
The pilot reported that on the day of the accident he taxied around the lake for a while, and then departed. As the airplane reached an altitude of about 100 feet, it "felt funny and nosed down." He attempted to set the airplane back down on the lake; however, the nose of the airplane impacted the lake and the airplane bounced. The pilot reported that he did not experience a loss of engine power during the flight.
In the NTSB Pilot/Operator Accident Report (Form 6120), submitted by the pilot, he stated during departure it felt as if a gust of wind struck the airplane. The airplane climbed to the right and the nose dropped straight down, impacting the lake.
The winds reported at the closest airport, 10 nautical miles to the east, were from 280 degrees at 4 knots.
An examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed flight control continuity from the cockpit to all flight control surfaces.
A small plane that crashed on Pleasant Lake in Otisfield hit an ice-covered portion and so only went partially into the water. The pilot was injured.
David Clock, cousin of pilot James Schaff, uses a post to assist as a winch pulls Schaff
Otisfield, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- One man was seriously injured when he crashed his small plane onto the ice on Pleasant Lake in Otisfield.
State Police tell NEWS CENTER that the plane crashed shortly after noon Saturday. They say when they got to the scene, the pilot of the plane was sitting on it. 64 year old, James Schaff is from Gray. He was taken to the hospital with injuries to his legs and chest, and underwent surgery Saturday afternoon.
The Federal Aviation Administration was on scene to investigate the crash. The plane landed on the ice and had floats. The ice was solid enough to support the weight of the plane which kept it from sinking, but it did sustain substantial damage.
Plane crashes into Pleasant Lake -
The pilot suffers chest and leg injuries when the aircraft comes down nose first after takeoff.
A Gray man was seriously injured Saturday trying to fly an experimental plane on an icy lake in the western Maine town of Otisfield.
State Police said James Schaff, 65, sustained chest and leg injuries when his single-engine plane slammed nose first onto Pleasant Lake around 12:15 p.m., mangling the front of the aircraft.
FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac described Schaff's injuries as serious in an email, but Schaff's cousin, David Clock, who was at the scene of the crash, said they were not life-threatening.
Schaff's red and white floatplane -- with the words "Ol' Combustible" painted on its side in yellow -- crashed as he attempted to take off from the lake, about 30 miles north of Portland, where he has a home on Camp Nona Road.
Salac described the plane as "experimental," but didn't elaborate on what that meant in her email.
Schaff was able to free himself from the wreckage and wait for help, according to a Maine State Police spokesman. When emergency personnel arrived, he was rushed to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.
Around 4:30 p.m., authorities used a winch to tow the heavily damaged plane from the lake to a nearby park.
The lake had some open water, but the plane crashed onto an ice-covered portion and only partially went through the ice, Salac said.
Maine State Police, the Maine Warden Service, the Oxford County Sheriff's Department and the Otisfield Fire Department all responded to the call.
Federal Aviation Administration investigators were headed to the scene late Saturday to try to determine the cause of the accident.
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