Originally Posted by remoak
One wonders why a simple landing back on the water wasn't possible... I mean from only 15 feet... but WTFDIK...
One wonders, have you ever flown a floatplane? If you've ever seen one take off, you might have noticed that for the 1st 50 feet or so, the aircraft is barely 'flying'. It's more 'hanging off the prop'. That's because when she leaves the water she's really just going too damn quick for the floats to stay in the water whilst barely being fast enough yet for the wing to go flying.
That engine failure occurring where it did, happened at probably the most critical phase/moment of a float-planes flight. At that height & speed, about all the pilot could do would be suck the stick back, clench the butt and hope that when she stopped she was still relatively intact.
All-in-all, (no injuries/fatalities, minimal damage to the aircraft, not even wet feet...) I'd grade that one a pass with distinction.