Strange Airplane and Unfamiliar Environment Leads to Tragedy

For an expert pilot, this new toy did not turn out to be child's play.

Peter Garrison

Monday, November 25, 2024 at 09:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: tccjeremy

He was flying along a river toward a low sun that blinded him to the wires in his path. [Getty Images]

Key Takeaways:

An experienced pilot and passenger died after their amphibious biplane collided with unchartered power lines during a low-level flight over Lake Hickory, North Carolina.
Despite the pilot's overall experience (3,000+ hours), he had very limited time (8.4 hours) in the specific aircraft and a recent three-month gap in flying, suggesting a lack of recency and specific familiarity with the aircraft and local environment.
The accident underscores the unique hazards of low-level flying over water bodies, where power lines often cross what appear to be rivers and may not be charted or marked.
The broader lesson is that even highly experienced pilots become "novices again" when flying new aircraft types or operating in unfamiliar environments, requiring specific vigilance for new sets of hazards.

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Lake Hickory, created by a dam on the Catawba River in North Carolina, is long and sinuous, oriented broadly east-west. Near its western end is Hickory Regional Airport (KHKY).

On a clear August day in 2023, a pilot, 63, and a passenger, 41, himself a student pilot, took off from KHKY in a Scoda Super Petrel LS, a two-seat amphibious light sport biplane manufactured in Brazil. They flew 5 miles northeast to a point where a highway bridge crosses Lake Hickory. There they turned left over the lake, made a touch-and-go landing, and then continued westward at low level.