MTV said:

Even a tree line will make a rotor downwind.

A Helio courier went into Lake Isabel ( altitude ~2800ft) a few years back. From the post accident description it sounded like a rotor coming from a NW wind over a ridge line got him just after lift off.

I do know my M5-235 has failed to take off or not wanted to climb into a NW wind on Lake Isabel due to the rotor. A little longer time on the beach at a beautiful lake waiting for the conditions to improve is not a big price to pay.

Have no idea what was going on w/ the A5. I would like to hear a pilot de-brief on the accident as a teaching moment.

mtv wrote:

Scolopax wrote:It looks like the icon has a lot of flap extended. Anyone know if this is typical for these planes?

The Icon POH recommends 30 degrees flap for takeoff. Many seaplanes simply won’t fly off the water without flaps.

Frankly, I think the video speaks for itself. Unlike Hammer, I believe these kinds of videos offer us all an opportunity to learn without having to break an airplane ourselves.

Fortunately, nobody was killed in this.

Unfortunately, some will use this accident to criticize the airplane.

MTV

Agree.

Like it or not, we can’t deny that pilots are very good at repeating the mistakes of others. I think it’s helpful to be reminded of root causes and consequences. It helps to see the outcomes and read the KNOWLEDGEABLE speculations and observations offered on forums like this one. “It’s far better to learn from the mistakes of others than to learn from my own misfortunes” (paraphrased from O. Von B.)

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I hear you Dogpilot. We have to be careful about what we choose to orientate, indoctrinate. In a crisis we react in compliance with this orientation and indoctrination. There are certain energy efficient things that work pretty well, regardless of aircraft type. KISS is an intrical part of accident evaluation and mitigation.

Videos of individual mistakes are very useful for the collective.

This video below is one of my favorites. There's been some debate between me and my buddies (some of whom own L-19's) about whether or not the ground loop at 1:19 was intentional (for the training video) or accidental and happened to be caught on tape.

https://youtu.be/U3hRFCP40F4