Jim Macklin wrote:

Reports and photographs indicate that there was a fire and
fuel explosion and one wing was blown off the airplane.
Kind of hard to fly anywhere with only half an airplane.

My guess at this point, a fuel line leak in the nacelle and
the fuel mixture in the wing root exploded.

Normal procedure for any seaplane is to land (is that
water?) but the Grumman Albatross (the Mallard is smaller)
with the turboprop engines flies just fine on one engine.


Engine failure was pure speculation on my part. An in-flight explosion
brings to mind all kinds of ugly possibililites.