On Thursday, August 25th, 1994 around 3:00 pm Eastern time, Jimmy Buffett crashed his Grumman G-44 Widgeon, N1471N, while attempting to takeoff in the waters off of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The airplane nosed over, and Jimmy was able to swim to safety, sustaining only minor injuries. He credits his survival to Navy Survival Training he had to complete before being able to ride in an F-14 Tomcat from the deck of an aircraft carrier.
The official NTSB Accident Report Brief gives this narrative of the accident:
| During takeoff, with the airplane “on the step,” the pilot saw a swell coming towards the airplane from the left. The pilot stated that before he could reduce the power, the airplane veered to the right. He stated aileron input did not seem to upright the airplane so he then reduced the power. He stated the airplane impacted the water on the left side of its nose and then nosed over. Post accident examination of airframe and engines did not reveal any anomalies.
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In addition, the report states the Probable Cause of the accident as follows:
| The pilot’s failure to maintain aircraft control. A factor in the accident was the rough water.
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At the time of the accident, Buffett had accumulated about 1500 hours total flying time with 190 hours in the Widgeon.
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View the entire NTSB
Accident Report here. | |
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