NTSB Factual Report

On July 1, 2006, at 0953 central daylight time, a Cessna A185E amphibian airplane, N1972U, piloted by a private pilot, was substantially damaged when it nosed over while landing on runway 18 at Leaders/Clear Lake Airport (8Y6), Clear Lake, Minnesota. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot sustained minor injuries. The passenger died on July 23, 2006, as result of injuries sustained in the accident. The flight departed Jorgensen's Landing Seaplane Base (MY34), Prior Lake, Minnesota, at 0915.

Runway 18/36 (3,000 feet by 150 feet) consisted of turf, loose gravel and asphalt surface materials. The first portion of runway 18 was turf (700 feet by 150 feet). There was a gravel strip (400 feet by 20 feet), followed by an asphalt strip (1,900 feet by 20 feet) along the center of the remaining portion of the runway. The airplane touched down and subsequently nosed over in the turf area immediately following the runway threshold.

The airplane was equipped with amphibious floats. Each float was configured with a retractable landing gear system that comprised of a main gear and a forward gear.

The pilot stated that he circled the airport to observe the runway and wind direction. The pilot reported flying a normal traffic pattern. The pilot stated that during the landing the airplane initially touched down on the main landing gear, while he held the forward landing gear off the ground. The pilot reported that when the forward landing gear touched down the airplane "flipped onto its back."

First responders reported that they found the airplane upside down, facing north. Local authorities reported that the airplane was located in the grass area prior to the gravel and asphalt sections of the runway. There were two distinct ground scars leading up to the main wreckage. The width between the two ground scars was consistent with the width between the airplane's two floats. Relative to the runway direction, the right and left ground scars were 103 and 92 feet long, respectively.

At 0953, the automated weather observation system at St. Cloud Regional Airport (STC), located 7.2 nautical miles northwest of 8Y6, reported the winds were from 270 at 9 knots.

The pilot stated that "no cones were observed" marking the runway threshold. Photographs taken after the accident show several yellow cones marking the runway threshold. The airport manager stated that the cones were present at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's misjudged flare that resulted in a hard landing and subsequent nose over. A factor to the accident was the grass runway that the forward landing gear dug into during the hard landing, resulting in the amphibian airplane nosing over.