The pilot of the Air Tractor AT-802A amphibious firefighting airplane departed from a land-based airport with a hard surface runway.
The pilot told investigators that he was distracted during the initial climb by another airplane flying towards him on what looked like a low approach. According to the pilot, this disrupted his callout flow, and he did not retract the landing gear.
The flight was part of a training event, and the pilot was supposed to scoop water at a lake near Inguadona, Minnesota. When he arrived at the lake, another firefighting airplane had just scooped water and advised him to use a south-to-north scoop line.
The pilot stated that he did his pre-scoop checklist, putting his hand on the landing gear lever and verbalizing “handle forward, four blue for the water,” as he was watching the other airplane. He said it did not register that the landing gear lever was aft and not forward or that there were four green lights instead of four blue.
When the airplane landed, it decelerated quickly and nosed over before settling upright, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings.
The pilot was able to get out of the airplane without incident and saw the floats had separated from the airplane and that the landing gear was extended.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to properly configure the landing gear on the amphibious airplane before a water landing.
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This October 2024 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
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