Cessna A185F N955LS

Summary

On 24 August 2023 at about 21:30 local time, a Cessna A185F registered N955LS, operated by Southern Maryland Sea Planes, was involved in an accident near Leonardtown, Maryland, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 August 2023 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Leonardtown, Maryland, United States

Coordinates

38.3188, -76.7134

Aircraft

Cessna A185F

Registration

N955LS

Category

Airplane

Year built

1973

Engines

1

Operator

Southern Maryland Sea Planes

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Leonardtown → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA23LA349

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power during an approach to landing for undetermined reasons.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot and designated pilot examiner (DPE) departed to complete a private pilot airplane single engine sea rating flight test in the float-equipped airplane. The private pilot navigated without incident to a nearby lake, circled, and entered a left downwind traffic pattern leg for the first water landing of the flight. During his landing checks, and shortly after he reduced engine power and added flaps, the engine lost power. The private pilot announced the loss of power and transferred control of the airplane to the DPE. The DPE pushed the throttle, propeller, and mixture controls forward; however, the engine did not respond. He then switched fuel tanks and navigated towards a corn field ahead. During the forced landing the airplane nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. A postaccident test run of the fuel-injected engine found that it started and produced normal power with fuel being fed from an external fuel tank placed above the fuselage. Positive fuel flow was observed with the fuel selector placed in the BOTH, LEFT, and RIGHT positions. The loss of engine power could not be duplicated during postaccident testing, and the reason for the loss of engine power that occurred during the accident flight could not be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.