But when his wingtip touched the surface, he lost control and the plane apparently flipped, coming to rest on its back.

BBC: Dornier 17: Salvaging a rare WWII plane from the seabed

The safety board said at the time that 12 accidents since 1993 had involved a large aircraft's wingtip hitting another airplane or object on the taxiway.

CNN: Spirit Airlines plane hits parked jet

Their Airbus A320 had just arrived from Atlanta at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida Monday night when a wingtip hit the tail of another plane.

CNN: Spirit Airlines plane hits parked jet

The other airplane sliced a wingtip through Klapmeier's wing strut.

FORBES: What Caused Cory Lidle's Crash?

What goes for an airport or a bay can be scaled up to an ocean, or the air above it, and down to the flow off an aircraft's wingtip, or a ship's hull.

ECONOMIST: Lagrangian coherent structures