Updated: The pilot of a small float plane is uninjured after his aircraft flipped in the water near Golden Gardens around 6:45 this morning.
Witnesses say the pilot was picked up by a nearby boat and taken to Shilshole Marina where he refused medical treatment. The pilot, Roger Collins, told KIRO7 that he was flying to Paine Field from Bremerton when his plane had electrical problems and he lost all controls, including controls of the landing gear. When he tried to land, the wheels on the pontoons caused the plane to flip.
Here’s a video clip shot by a My Ballard reader of the upside down plane being pulled into the dock shortly after the crash. A few hours later, recovery crews pulled the plane from the water (see photos of the recovery operation.)
“He looked like he was going to land and drop someone off to go fishing,” said Mark Smith, who witnessed the crash from the shore (watch interview). “It was so quiet, you could hear the water sliding across the pontoons on the plane,” he said. “You could hear the propeller slapping against the water as the nose tipped down as he stopped.” Smith said the pilot got out of the plane and stood on the struts of the wing. “A boat that had been coming out of the harbor picked him up within a minute. I guess he got his feet wet,” Smith told us.
The plane is now sitting at the end of the dock where it awaits pickup.
9 reader comments so far ↓
1 bmvaughn // Aug 28, 2009 at 4:20 pm
A total loss I bet… that's really a shame.
2 gurple // Aug 28, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Wow, that last picture is really something! Don't see an upside-down seaplane underwater every day.
3 SPG // Aug 28, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Wow, Good to hear that the pilot was able to walk away from it.
4 NoraBell // Aug 28, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Very fortunate he only go wet feet. Too bad about his poor battered plane, though.
5 James // Aug 28, 2009 at 5:14 pm
this is so sad. i want to cry with him for his plane.
6 Vickers // Aug 28, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Strange you'd loose controls from an electrical failure!
7 BTown // Aug 28, 2009 at 5:46 pm
I think they solved this problem in the last Pirate of the Caribbean movie… you just need Johnny Depp and rock the thing over right at sunset.
8 Freeezz // Aug 28, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Right off the bat this looks like pilot error. If you'll notice this plane has landing gear (wheels) that will recede into the floats. This landing gear will unequivocally not come out on it's own after being brought up into them after such an accident. However if you do not do so before a water landing you have ruffly a 99% of an accident.
9 SeaSpider // Aug 29, 2009 at 12:37 am
Yeah, I was also wondering why he had his landing gear deployed. Hard to imagine how loss of electrical would result in the landing gear deploying – just can't imagine that would be a design feature. Good to hear he's OK. Hope the place can be salvaged.
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