How many hours till you're 'experienced', I keep seeing references to 20 hour pilots in these posts. This article says he had over 800 hours:
"Halladay said in an interview last March that he had accrued about 800 hours in the air since he threw his last pitch in 2013. He had received his instrument rating and multi-engine rating. He was working toward a commercial rating."
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports...phia-phillies-toronto-blue-jays-20171107.html
TT is one thing
Seaplane and amphib time and also backcountry is a whole nother ball of wax
Is it really that dangerous in a seaplane? I thought they were made for that. Speculation, but based on the extensive damage I see in the photos, I doubt this is a simple matter of flying fast and low over water.
Granted this is the Daily Mail, but headlines like "Recipe for disaster" don't exactly bode well for the company. It seems like he was using it the way it was marketed, and died:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5062213/Roy-Halladay-fly-Icon-A5-crash.html
Depends on what you know about that body of water, how dark the water is, whats underneath the surface, aerial survey for any wire or lines, deadheads, lighting conditions like flat light, where you are going to dock, beach or anchor and conditions for that, then the legal aspect of who controls that water way, etc etc
There is a reason seaplane insurance is what it is, and a reason amphib insurance is high enough some folks just take the risk, heck my last policy didn't even have a open pilot provision only named pilots, and even with the best pilot in the best plane there can be issues you may not be able to avoid (al la a dead head) till you're right on top of it.
Marketing a seaplane, especially a amphib, as a low time pilot toy, and having in house CFIs, who of course are not going to rock the marketing narrative boat, that's asking for trouble.
Stuff like this, not exactly problems land planes have.
Not many get marked like this, now add a overcast sky or darker water
And it'll do this to a thick heavy boat hull, imagine what it'll do to a light seaplane hull
Now add reefs and rocks, other boat traffic, gulls, tides, currents and everything else, mix in a little "safest plane in the world" and "fighter pilot" "super easy to fly" marketing to it