‘Complacency can kill you;’ Pilot recounts plane crash in the Tennessee River

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ( WATE ) —The pilot of a plane that crashed into the Tennessee River on Monday has shared new details of what happened that afternoon.

A preliminary report from the FAA revealed that the plane involved in the crash was a Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey, an amphibious plane, and that the aircraft was attempting to land in the river when it crashed into the water “for unknown reasons,” and flipped over.

Michael Williams identified himself as the pilot of the plane, adding that he came close to drowning and was lucky to get out alive with some minor scrapes and bruises.

“I got complacent. 200 hours over 2 years in this plane and more than 800 landings in water and on runways. Complacency can kill you,” Williams wrote in a Facebook post.

Williams shared an excerpt of his written statement to the FAA in a Facebook post . In that, he said he took off in the SeaRey from the Knoxville Downtown Island Airport around 7:25 p.m. on March 25 with plans to fly near the airport and practice water and runway “touch and goes” for around 30 minutes until it starting getting dark.

The flight was going to plan, although Williams did not put the gear up when he was taking off as he normally would. He wrote that he opted to leave it down for a moment in case of an engine failure and neglected to put it up as he passed the end of the runway.

As the flight continued, Williams noted that he announced on Common Traffic Advisory Frequency that he was turning for a water landing west of the airport, a check he uses to remind himself to verify his gear position. He said he thinks in that moment, he looked at the gear indicator, but did not process that it was green, meaning it was ready for a runway landing. As he turned and rechecked his landing spot, he said he rechecked some other things, but again he missed that his gear was set for a runway landing.

The plane landed in the river as it was going between 50 and 55 miles per hour.

“Suddenly, I remember the feeling of getting punched in the face – the next thing I felt was water passing my neck. I got a brief gulp of air and tried to assess what happened,” Williams wrote.

He continued, explaining over the next moments, he fought to escape the plane, pushed his way out and resurfaced. The plane also reoriented itself upright, and moments later, a bass boat picked Williams up. After that, the Knoxville Fire Department arrived and secured the plane to the shore after attempting to tow it back. Tuesday evening, the plane was brought back to the boat ramp at the Knoxville Downtown Island Airport.

Williams ended his post explaining how his mistake caused the crash, but he is lucky to be alive and able to learn from that mistake.

“Although, many people do not survive this kind of mistake in a seaplane. I was seconds away from not being able to get out… but I was lucky and did. I consider myself lucky to have survived this and have the opportunity to learn from it in my flying – and everyday life… do not let yourself get complacent.”

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