Accident Details
On May 4, 2008, at approximately 1130 eastern daylight time, an amateur-built Cozy Mark IV, registered as N14GG, ditched in the ocean about 3 miles off the southern coast of Jekyll Island, Georgia. The aircraft was operated by a certificated commercial pilot on a personal flight under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. No flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. The pilot was killed, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight had departed Brunswick Golden Isles Airport, Brunswick, Georgia, at 1050.
Witness Accounts
The pilot's son reported that his father was flying locally for pleasure. A witness at the north end of Jekyll Island stated he was sitting on the beach and observed a white, single-engine, canard-style airplane fly overhead. He commented to his wife about the aircraft's unique design and that its engine sounded unusual. He noted no smoke or signs of mechanical difficulty. The airplane was flying south, parallel to the beach, at about 1,000 feet above ground. He learned of the crash a couple of days later. According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, several witnesses existed but none had come forward. The inspector requested a local reporter to publish a call for witnesses; as of the report's publication, no witnesses had contacted him.
Pilot Information
The pilot, aged 71, held a commercial pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land and glider ratings, as well as a flight instructor certificate with a glider rating updated on January 24, 2005. He held a third-class medical certificate issued June 12, 2007, requiring corrective lenses for distant vision and glasses for near vision. His most recent medical application indicated 7,600 total flight hours. His logbook was not recovered.
Wreckage Recovery and Examination
According to the pilot's son, the airplane floated in salt water for about 3 days after the accident, then washed ashore on a beach near Cumberland Island, Georgia. It remained buried in sand for 4 days before the son was notified by Cumberland Island authorities to remove it. The son transported the wreckage to his father's residence and stored it in a hangar.
Examination by an FAA inspector revealed that the airplane impacted the water in a wings-level attitude, separating the upper cabin, propeller, and engine gearbox. The aircraft was equipped with an Allison T63-A-700, 250-horsepower turboprop engine, which remained partially attached by its mounts. No evidence of a loss of engine power was found; however, saltwater damage was extensive to both engine and airframe. The airplane's logbooks were not located, and the most recent condition inspection could not be determined.
Medical and Toxicology Findings
An autopsy performed on May 5, 2008, by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation listed the cause of death as blunt force injury. The report noted severe arteriosclerotic coronary vascular disease with over 90% occlusion of the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery, an enlarged heart (440 grams), and thickened ventricular walls.
Forensic toxicology conducted by the FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory detected no carbon monoxide, cyanide, or ethanol in blood, and no ethanol in vitreous. Elevated glucose was found in urine (163 mg/dl), vitreous (21 mg/dl), and hemoglobin A1C in blood (11.1%). The pilot's June 12, 2007 medical application indicated no current medication use, a history of high blood pressure, and no to all other medical history items including diabetes and heart trouble, with an explanation of previous blood pressure medication use discontinued two years prior.