Moments before a seaplane crashed upside down in the Deschutes River in June 2019, witnesses saw the plane struggling to gain altitude and then brush 50-foot-tall trees lining the river, according to the final crash report from the National Transportation Safety Board. Safety board investigators determined the cause of the fatal crash was due to the plane losing engine power and the pilotâs failure to retract the landing gear, which caused the plane to flip upside down as it hit the water. The pilot, Keven Padrick, 63, of Sunriver, attempted to take off June 22, 2019, from the Sunriver Airport in his Maule M-7-235B but immediately felt the plane unable to reach altitude.