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Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative: The crew of the Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina was carrying out a cross country flight from Lelystad Airport, Netherlands. The purpose of the flight was a memorial fly-by over the Indonesian monument in The Hague, where a commemoration of the Second World War Japanese capitulation was taking place. After a flight of almost two hours a planned ‘splash-and-go’ manoeuvre (a water landing with immediate subsequent take-off) was carried out on the IJsselmeer, near Lelystad. Before the water landing, wind direction and wind speed were checked and an inspection run was performed to look out for ships, buoys and other possible obstacles that might jeopardise the landing. No abnormalities were seen and the crew performed the briefing and the approach checklist. The approach started at 300 feet with an airspeed of 85 knots. Shortly before the water landing the airspeed was reduced to 72 knots. Vertical speed was between 100 and 200 feet/minute. Immediately after hitting the water the aircraft started to turn severely around the vertical axis to the left. The captain, who was pilot flying (PF), ordered full power from the pilot monitoring (PM). Despite full right rudder and aid of the ailerons, the aircraft persisted the left-hand turn. The PM selected asymmetric power to counteract the movement around the vertical axis. After a full 360-degree turn, directional control was suddenly regained after which the PF ordered full power. The aircraft took off at an airspeed of 65 knots. After passing 500 feet during the climb, both pilots noticed via an inspection hatch that the left hand nose wheel door was missing. At an altitude of 1,000 feet the aircraft headed back to Lelystad Airport. The landing gear was lowered but only the two main gears were extended and locked. The right-hand nose wheel door remained closed and the nose wheel stayed inside the wheel bay. Recycling of the landing gear had no result and Lelystad Radio was informed about a possible nose wheel up landing. The PM made an attempt to use the alternate (manual) gear extension procedure to lower the nose gear but failed at the first step of the procedure: opening the right-hand wheel door. The crew was aware that a nose wheel up landing was inevitable and informed Lelystad Radio. The landing was well executed by keeping the nose up for as long as possible. The aircraft came to a standstill just left of the centre line. All 18 occupants left the aircraft uninjured. The damage resulting from the water landing was limited to the nose gear construction and its doors. As a result of the nose wheel up landing at the airport, the nose section of the aircraft was damaged.
Conclusions: After touchdown on the water, the aircraft initially veered severely to the left, most likely as a result of a deformed left-hand nose gear door that eventually broke off. The extent and cause of the deformation is unknown since the door was not recovered. As a result of the deformation of the door, the door’s lock pin was bent and since both left-hand and right-hand door pins are mechanically connected, the right hand door could not be opened. The flight crew’s decision not to reject the take-off was likely influenced by earlier accidents with the same type of aircraft in which the aircraft sank. Because the right-hand nose wheel door remained closed, the nose gear could not be extended and the flight crew was forced to make a nose wheel up landing on the ground, which was executed successfully.