Seaplane or Amphibian
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged
Aircraft
After landing on [the] lake for the third or fourth time; the airplane went through a sudden deceleration and stopped with the left wing low. I could see that the left wing float brace was broken which allowed the wing float to swing outboard up to the wing. Upon power up; the airplane could be leveled however it failed to come up on the step for takeoff. Airplane took on water faster than the bilge pump could expel and the plane started sinking. Could not make it to targeted beaching point so I took airplane to nearest shoreline which was lined with mangroves; dropped the landing gear and there it sat partially submerged until recovered. While heading for shore; I transmitted several times my name; location; and that I was taking on water and losing directional control and to contact my friend and tell him I needed help. Too much going on and ambient noise so I did not hear any response. ELT was also going off in my headset and could not be reset with front panel control/indicator. Later inspection revealed that all three rubber hull boots had failed and allowed water to enter the hull evidently faster than the bilge pump could expel.
Sea Rey LSX pilot reported the aircraft partially sank after taking on water related to the failure of the rubber hull boots.