Thoughts from pilots...

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id...-stunts-plane-crashed-had-amphetamines-system

 

Only restriction I know of over water is to stay 500ft away from stuff. Reads like he either wanted to or ran out of talent at the apex..

 

Would it have been a violation to fly under that Tampa bridge?

 

With a required 500’ bubble and only 180’ of clearance. I’d go with yes

 

Isn’t there restrictions of where and how high you should be when performing aerobatic maneuvers?

 

There are over ground, and people can get clearance to the surface. I’m not sure over water.

 

I wasn’t sure with the over water part either.

 

Over water, you can do whatever you want, with regard to minimum altitude, except go supersonic (unless you’re far away from land).

This gentleman failed to maintain situational awareness and/or altitude in order avoid terrain. Or, in this case, water.

 

It was a sea plane.

 

Does that change anything?

 

§ 91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.
Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:

(a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.

(b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.

(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

 

The FAA doesn't generally get wound up about a sea plane being near the water.

 

1) As dude had a history of abusing meds in his immediate past, he probably lied about it on his medical exam and should not have been granted an airman medical.
2) He sure as Eff shouldnt have been flying with that many painkillers/amphetamines in his system...regardless.
3) You can fly under a bridge if needed to land a seaplane. Many of you would be shocked by how little the FAA/Feds regulate airplane operations. But they did put in a clause we all call 91.13. thats the section that says they can fry you if you operate an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner. So to put it in motorcycle terms...you can do all the standup high chair wheelies you want away from people and stuff...but if you eff up and crash we can still cite you.

 

Halladay ran out of brains and talent long before he ran out of balls. He paid the price for that.

 

Or........ it ain't a problem till its a problem!

 

This smells like a suicide . Drug levels 10 x normal.
Other than that , that Icon 5a is a Bad Ass little plane

 

I, personally, think Icon has some responsibility in this. I have spent almost a decade within 100 feet of their sales and marketing team. They promoted themselves as a PWC for the sky. They put no effort that I could see towards safe operation of their airplane. It was all about fun and excitement.

 

want to expand on this a bit more? Examples?