History of the Flight
On August 16, 2018, about 1935 central daylight time, a Cessna 172L airplane, registered as N2893Q, impacted trees and terrain shortly after departing from Rhome Meadows Airport (T76) in Rhome, Texas. The commercial pilot sustained fatal injuries, and the three passengers received serious injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed.
According to a family member, the pilot had retrieved the airplane from under an open-air shelter for a "family fun night" and was giving rides to family members. The pilot had flown the airplane about one week before the accident and twice immediately preceding the accident flight, for 20 and 10 minutes, with no anomalies reported. During the accident flight, the airplane departed from a grass runway, did not gain much altitude, banked hard left, and descended behind a tree line.
A pilot-rated witness observed the airplane depart and land soon after, then taxi back with the engine running. Three passengers boarded, and the airplane began a takeoff roll. The witness reported that the engine did not sound like it was developing full power, and the takeoff roll was longer than expected. After becoming airborne, the nose pitched up very high to about 50 ft above ground level (agl), then came back down. The airplane flew low over the runway, accelerated, pitched up to about 300 ft agl, then turned left and descended out of view.
Personnel Information
On his most recent second-class medical certificate application, dated October 13, 2017, the pilot reported 8,000 total hours of flight experience and 125 hours in the preceding 6 months. The pilot's wife stated that he did not log recent flight time and had not recorded flights in his pilot logbook since the 1990s. During the accident flight, the pilot occupied the front right seat, with a minor in the front left seat, and an adult and minor on the rear bench seat.
Aircraft Information
The pilot's wife stated that the airplane's maintenance logbooks were never received from the previous owner after purchase in 2013. No documentation of maintenance since that time existed, and there was no evidence of an annual inspection. Fuel was typically supplied from fuel cans filled at another airport, and those cans were used to refuel the airplane on the night of the accident. The fuel cans had been filled at an unknown time the week before.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane came to rest inverted on a southeast heading about 350 yards north of the departure end of runway 13. The left wing leading edge was crushed aft and sustained impact damage, including tree strikes; the wing was partially separated and distorted aft. The right wing leading edge was crushed aft. All flight control cables were intact with no anomalies. The elevator trim tab was slightly nose-down but near neutral. The flaps were retracted. Both control yokes were damaged consistent with impact. No shoulder harnesses were installed. All four lap belts exhibited stretching, and the right rear lap belt was separated from its floorboard eyelet. The left front seat was improperly safety-wired.
The fuel selector handle and valve were found in the OFF position; first responders reported moving it to OFF after the accident. A small amount of fuel was found in the firewall fuel strainer, testing negative for water. About 2 gallons of fuel were drained from the impact-damaged wing tanks. Two empty beer cans were found in the front left floorboard. A rodent's nest was found inside the left wing, and cobwebs were observed in the engine compartment. A mud dauber nest was present on the oil cooler fins. The ELT had battery acid residue on its case. An automotive battery was installed.
The propeller spinner tip was bent, but the blades were straight and undamaged. The gascolator fuel strainer contained organic debris similar to insect cocoons, and the bowl was mostly full of blue fuel consistent with 100LL aviation gasoline. The main fuel line from the gascolator to the carburetor was a hydraulic hose marked as automotive. Engine continuity and compression were confirmed. The carburetor contained about 5 mL of fuel testing negative for water. Both magnetos produced spark, with left ignition timing at 25° and right at 30° before top dead center. Top spark plugs showed normal combustion color. The oil filter had no indication of last change.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy determined the pilot's cause of death as blunt force injuries and revealed hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, including cardiomegaly, left ventricular hypertrophy, a fusiform aneurysm in the right coronary artery, and moderate atherosclerosis. Toxicology testing identified ethanol in subclavian blood (0.154 gm/dL), vitreous fluid (0.177 gm/dL), and urine (0.194 gm/dL). Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was found at 0.0033 µg/mL in blood, with its inactive metabolite carboxy-delta-9-THC at 0.0139 µg/mL. Both THC metabolites were detected in urine.