Penn Yan

The private pilot was continuing a cross-country flight after having stopped for fuel. About 20 minutes into the flight, the pilot said both engines started running rough, and he turned the airplane toward the nearest airport and descended. The pilot reported that he did not think the airplane would make it to the airport, and that due to the rugged terrain, he felt it was better to ditch the airplane in a large lake he was flying over. The pilot reported there were no mechanical anomalies prior to the loss of engine power. He said he felt that fuel contamination was the cause of the engine problem, and that not fueling during heavy rain might have prevented the problem. Fuel samples were taken from the fuel supply where he added fuel, and the equipment used to fuel the airplane. No other instances of fuel contamination were reported, and according to the FAA inspector the fuel samples were tested, and found to be clean. The airplane was not recovered from the lake, and has not been examined by the NTSB.

The purpose of the flight was for the flight instructor to provide multiengine airplane training, in a late 1930's vintage amphibious airplane, to his brother, a single engine airplane rated private pilot. No published performance data was available for the airplane, and according to the flight instructor, much of what he knew about the performance of the airplane he learned from previous flights. Just after takeoff on the accident flight, and about 600 feet above ground level (agl), and as the pilot was retracting the landing gear and starting a left turn to the crosswind leg of the traffic pattern, the flight instructor retarded the right throttle in order to simulate a failure of the right engine. The pilot executed the procedures for an in-flight engine failure and the instructor looked out of the window to check for traffic in the airport traffic pattern. The flight instructor then heard the pilot state "I am at blue line but losing altitude." The flight instructor continued to scan for traffic and moved the right throttle forward to about the "half throttle" position. The pilot could not recall if he had adjusted either of the power controls after the initial application of power for takeoff. The airplane continued to descend, impacted the ground, and caught fire.