NTSB: Pilot Not Licensed in South Carolina Flying Boat Crash

The National Transportation Safety Board says the pilot of a flying boat that crashed near Dewees Island last year killing two people was not properly licensed and under the influence of alcohol.

The final report from federal investigators says the pilot, 40-year-old Lucas McDowell Smith, and his passenger, 27-year-old Cara Lee Donohue, died in the crash on July 20, 2011.

The report says that Smith was about 1,000 feet above the water making a loop when the wing folded and the craft fell into shallow water. The craft, an inflatable boat with a wing, is considered an experimental flying boat.

The NTSB said that Smith needed a sport pilot license to operate the craft. It also said Smith’s blood alcohol was above the limit for flying a civil aircraft.