Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot misjudged his altitude while turning on final approach over water to land at an airport.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The commerical pilot made a low level approach to the runway and released a banner after completing a banner tow flight. After the pilot released the banner, he initiated a climb to 300 ft agl and entered left traffic for runway 36. However, during a turn onto final approach, the airplane descended, and the left main landing gear collided with water, while the airplane was a a 15 to 20 deg bank. The airplane then nosed over and came to rest in 3 to 4 ft of water about 200 yds southwest of the runway.
Source record
Factual narrative
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