N848HP

On May 2, 2024, about 1404 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built amphibious AirCam, N848HP, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near DeLand, Florida. The airline transport pilot was seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) data and over the air (OTA) recorded audio from the destination airport, the flight departed about 11 minutes earlier from Spruce Creek Airport, Daytona Beach, Florida, and proceeded in a westerly direction towards DeLand Municipal Airport-Sidney H Taylor Field (DED). An over the air recording of the DED common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) recorded a transmission from an unidentified airplane asking and being informed that the active runway at DED was runway 5. The flight continued and flew north of DED at 600 ft barometric altitude, then made a slight left turn while descending. Subsequently, a pilot who was flying nearby observed an amphibious airplane begin to flare too high and “rotate around the vertical axis to the left” quickly losing altitude and impacting the ground.

The accident site was located about 120 ft southeast from the last ADS-B target and about .7 nautical mile and 331° from the approach end of runway 12 at DED. There was no recorded distress call on the DED recorded CTAF. First responders arrived and airlifted the pilot to a hospital for treatment of his injuries.

Examination of the wreckage by an FAA airworthiness inspector revealed the left wing was extensively damaged, and each electrically controlled propeller control mechanism were in different positions. The wreckage was recovered for removal of avionics that are equipped with non-volatile memory, and for examination of the airframe, engines, propellers, and each propeller control system.