Plymouth, NH — On Fri., Aug. 30, 2013, Don Stoppe, a local landlord, along with his dog, Tracker, and one passenger, took flight in Stoppe’s Stationair N208LH aircraft traveling from Plymouth to Lake Stinson in Rumney, NH, a distance of six miles. Instead of landing safely in their designated spot on the lake, the plane flipped over just seconds after hitting the water.
The short distance from the airport to the lake did not give Stoppe enough time to check if the landing gear used for ground landings was up. Having the incorrect landing gear down while performing an aquatic landing was the cause of the accident. With Stoppe being more experienced in ground landings than aquatic landings, he made a simple mistake that has been done by many before.
In the cockpit, there are four lights to indicate that it is safe to land. For ground landings, the lights turn green to indicate it’s safe to land. For aquatic landings, the lights turn blue to indicate it’s safe to land on the water. Seeing greens lights, Stoppe believed it to be a normal sign that everything was okay.
Thanks to the safety courses Stoppe had attended during his flying career, he realized something was wrong. Before touching down, he told his passengers they were to flip. At 5:30 p.m., the Stationair N208LH landed on Lake Stinson and flipped over, submerging everything but the landing gear.
“The worst part is that you are in the water upside down and disoriented,” explained the pilot. Stoppe first reached for the door, opening it and then releasing his seat belt. He was out of the plane within 15 seconds after the crash. The passenger exited just a few seconds later. Once both were out, Stoppe immediately pulled Tracker from the plane. Good samaritans on the lake came to their aid while they waited for a crane to come and take the flooded plane from the water. The water damage to the plane was severe, rendering the plane totaled.
Stoppe has been flying for almost 20 years and had never been in any accidents prior to this past Labor Day weekend. He says that safety has always been his first priority. “You hope something like this never happens, but it is good to be prepared in case it does.” He also said that hopefully some good can come from this incident in that it can teach other pilots, as well as himself, how to prevent similar dangerous situations. “What’s important to me is why it happened and to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
In only 8% of seaplane accidents, all passengers walk away with no injuries. Stoppe, Tracker, and his passenger beat the odds that day. Stoppe said happily, “It was a very scary experience and I thank God we are all okay.”