I wouldn’t try to land that thing on anybody of water that had even small wave action going.
I have been on De Havilland seaplanes taking off and landing in the Keys and you need a strong airframe to handle the stress.
That thing looks very unforgiving.
Water LOOKS soft and the inexperienced can lack the appreciation of how hard it gets with velocity. Hitting the wave without the respect it needs will make it a bad day for anyone. Still, it could have been something entirely different than pilot error or inexperience, it is just too early to know!
I just know that even the best training on a new aircraft will not be the same as for an aircraft with lots of experience from lots of pilots. Add a *new* aircraft that is an amphibian, one that straddles two worlds, and ‘designed’ for the minimally trained market, and I’d approach every flight with very healthy RESPECT!!
Recall all of the problems and crashes with the V-22 Osprey and you know that the crews were TRAINED but it needed TIME to learn how wonky transitions could be. Lots of too young lives were spent there and that was for a real and vital military need!