RX for Disaster

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued its final report on a fatal December 2006 accident in which pilot error and impairment from medications factored in the aircraft loss. On December 22, 2006 a six-place Cessna 340A (N808RA) piloted by an orthopedic surgeon crashed in the Stono River...

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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued its final report on a fatal December 2006 accident in which pilot error and impairment from medications factored in the aircraft loss.

On December 22, 2006 a six-place Cessna 340A (N808RA) piloted by an orthopedic surgeon crashed in the Stono River just outside of Charleston, SC.

The doctor, his wife and their two daughters were killed when the aircraft crashed as it circled back to land at Johns Island Executive Airport (JZI).

According to an airport employee at JZI, the pilot contacted the JZI UNICOM radio frequency to request an airport advisory. The airport employee informed the pilot that the "winds were from 180 at 12 knots gusting to 17." The pilot then reported that he would be landing on runway 18. The airport employee advised the pilot that there was no "runway 18." The pilot then stated that he would land on runway 27, and then said that he would land on runway 22.

The employee stepped outside to witness the approach of the airplane. He reported that the airplane was southwest of the airport moving northeast, perpendicular to runway 22, at an altitude of approximately 500 feet. He witnessed the airplane on a left base for runway 22. He said that the airplane overshot the runway and began a "tight, low right turn" away from the airport. He then witnessed the airplane stall and completed two revolutions before it was lost from his sight.

The pilot, age 58, held a private pilot certificate and a third-class medical certificate. Review of the pilot's logbook revealed he had accumulated 1,504 total flight hours, of which 129.6 hours were in the Cessna 340A.

An autopsy was performed on the pilot and forensic toxicology was performed on specimens from the pilot by the FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, OK. The toxicology report stated no ethanol was detected in the liver or muscle, and Atenolol, Tramadol, Diphenhydramine and Bupropion were detected in the blood. Atenolol, Tramadol, Diphehydramine, Hydrocodone, Dihydrocodeine, and Bupropion were detected in the urine.