Originally Posted by
rotornut
He didn't flare so I agree that he probably misjudged his altitude over the water. I understand from float plane pilots that it's very difficult to accurately judge your height when landing on water, more so when it's dark.
It’s very hard to judge on floats , can look like a silver bowl ahead of you with no idea of the shape of the bowl inside. ( even though you know it’s flat ! )
We flew fixed rpm , low rate of descent , until you touched water or ran out of lake.
Watch the horizon or tree line , looking down is useless.