History of Flight
On September 14, 2016, at approximately 0915 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-11 airplane, registration N4910M, impacted terrain while maneuvering near Arcanum, Ohio. The student pilot and the passenger sustained fatal injuries, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The aircraft was registered to a private individual and operated by the student pilot under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. The local flight departed without a flight plan from a private grass airstrip around 0800.
According to onboard video posted by the passenger to social media, the student pilot occupied the front seat and the passenger the rear seat. The video showed the airplane maneuvering at low altitude on several occasions. In flight, the passenger texted a friend that the pilot was flying in a "crazy" manner.
A witness observed the airplane flying at "tree top" level; after exiting his car, he saw the airplane enter a turn and descend out of sight. Another witness noted the airplane flying low "just above the trees." A third witness described the flying as "very radical" and commented, "it was like the pilot was drunk." The airplane impacted a cornfield about 300 yards north of the departure airstrip.
Personnel Information
The 20-year-old student pilot held an FAA third-class medical certificate issued on October 16, 2012. A logbook review indicated his initial solo flight occurred on December 23, 2012. He had accumulated 31 total flight hours, with the last recorded flight on May 22, 2015. FAA regulations prohibit a student pilot from carrying passengers.
Multiple interviews conducted by local law enforcement revealed that two weeks before the accident, the student pilot had returned from a substance abuse rehabilitation facility where he was treated for heroin addiction for about 30 days.
Aircraft Information
The airplane, manufactured in 1947 and registered to the pilot's father, was a two-place, tandem, high-wing design. It was equipped with a Continental C85-12 engine and a Sensenich fixed-pitch propeller. Maintenance records showed the most recent annual inspection was completed on August 31, 2014, at a total time of 1,925 hours.
Meteorological Information
At 0915, the weather observation station at Darke County Airport, Versailles, Ohio, approximately 13 miles north of the accident site, reported wind from 360° at 4 knots, visibility 7 miles, scattered clouds at 5,000 feet above ground level (agl), broken clouds at 9,000 feet agl, overcast clouds at 11,000 feet agl, temperature 17°C, dew point 17°C, and an altimeter setting of 30.19 inches of mercury.
Wreckage and Impact Information
A strip of flattened corn plants led from the initial impact point on a northwest heading to the airplane. The airplane came to rest inverted on a southeast heading about 100 feet from the initial impact point. The engine remained attached to the airframe. One propeller blade was bent, and the other was nearly straight. Flight control surfaces remained attached, and flight control continuity was confirmed. The center fuel tank contained about 2 gallons of aviation fuel.
Spark plugs removed from the cylinders displayed normal worn-out condition per the Champion Aviation Service Manual. Compression checks revealed normal compression in cylinders No. 2 and No. 4, weak compression in No. 1 due to a crushed intake valve pushrod, and no compression in No. 3 due to a crushed exhaust valve pushrod. Both magnetos produced spark when rotated by hand. The carburetor float bowl showed no anomalies. Examination of the airframe and engine found no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Medical and Pathological Information
The student pilot had not reported any medical conditions or medication use to the FAA. The Montgomery County Coroner's Office performed an autopsy and determined the cause of death as multiple trauma; no significant natural disease was identified.
FAA toxicology testing on samples from the student pilot found ethanol at 0.105 gm% in blood and 0.134 gm% in urine. Additionally, alprazolam and its metabolite hydroxyalprazolam; cocaine and multiple metabolites (benzoylecgonine, cocaethylene, anhydroecgonine methyl ester, ecgonine methyl ester); levamisole; hydroxyzine and its metabolite cetirizine; and naltrexone and its metabolite naltrexol were detected in urine. Blood samples contained benzoylecgonine, ecgonine methyl ester, hydroxyzine, cetirizine, naltrexone, and naltrexol.
The Montgomery County Coroner's Office toxicology testing identified 57 ng/ml of alprazolam, 161 ± 33 ng/ml of cocaine, 917 ± 190 ng/ml of benzoylecgonine, 404 ng/ml of ecgonine methyl ester, and 106 ng/ml of cocaethylene in heart blood. Ethanol was found in heart blood at 0.139 ± 0.013 gm% and in vitreous at 0.095 ± 0.009 gm%.
Alprazolam (Xanax) is a sedating benzodiazepine prescription medication and a Schedule IV controlled substance. Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant. Ethanol is an intoxicant and central nervous system depressant; FAA regulations prohibit acting as a crewmember with 0.040 gm% or more ethanol in the blood. Cocaethylene is a metabolite formed only when cocaine and ethanol are ingested together. Levamisole is an animal dewormer not approved for human use, commonly used to cut cocaine. Hydroxyzine (Atarax, Vistaril) is an anxiolytic with sedative properties. Naltrexone (Revia, Vivitrol) is an opioid antagonist used in addiction treatment.
Tests and Research
Two personal electronic devices recovered from the accident site were evaluated by the NTSB Recorder Laboratory. One device contained two short videos (~10 seconds each) showing the airplane flying low over grassy areas but not capturing the accident sequence. Due to impact damage, no data was retrieved from the other device. Further details are available in the Personal Electronic Devices Factual Report in the public docket.