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Originally Posted by Kjesse
Wow, and RIP. How awful.
And the Icon A5?
I've been following that plane's development since it was announced years ago. They had to get special FAA approval for something relating to the stall characteristics if I recall, and received it. Their website claimed at one point how safe it would be and that you wouldn't even need a full pilot's license to fly it. It was a plane with folding wings you could tow behind your car. Could do land and water landings.
Pre-orders were to take years to fulfil and even created a secondary market for them where they went for way more than list if you could get Icon to approve. I suggested to my wife that if the money ever became available we should buy one some day.
EDIT: It was also landable on water if the engine failed and had a chute if you were over land. What went wrong?
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The A5 was designed with a 'spin resistant' wing and achieved FAR Part 23 certification with this airfoil. The A5 is amphibious and is intended to be flown off water or land. By some accounts the A5 can be tricky to land on water and several Hulls have already suffered heavy damage due to hard landings. Looking at the wreckage it appears that this may have been the case with Roy's accident IMO. The wings are separated but everything is mostly intact. The NTSB will likely be able to pin point the exact cause.
Icon's legendary chief pilot/engineer Jon Karkow was killed in an A5 crash back in May which was attributed to pilot error. General Aviation can be terribly unforgiving, even to the best.