CoastieJohn wrote:
CAPFlyer wrote:
The other problem with a lot of these older amphibs is that the FAA requires you do a full inspection on the airplane every time it touches salt water (to include the Albatross).
The situation and how it went sucks and there is definitely plenty of blame to go around in its handling, but it's unfortunately not unique and probably won't be the last time either.
I don't know the FAA definition for a saltwater landing "full inspection". A Goat maybe a little different. When I was doing HH-52's and saltwater landings, the inspection wasn't too bad. Freshwater rinse/wash of the engine and A/F, Interior and exterior, pull the hull drain plugs, "purge the wicks" in the L/G struts, unroll and wash the float bags on the sponsons, visual inspection of the hull. It wasn't too bad and a couple of guys can do it over lunch and have the aircraft ready to go for the afternoon flight.
From what I was told, it seems the FAA inspection requires opening up part of the wing to inspect the spar and an interior inspection of the hull in addition to the exterior. I wasn't given a timeframe, but it sounded to me like it would take at least a couple of hours, especially for a volunteer crew who doesn't do it all the time, and that's time that a lot of non-profit operators are just going to do without.