History of Flight
Around 1930 to 1945 Eastern Standard Time, the sister of the student pilot heard the airplane start up and depart from the pilot's property, where she also lived. The airplane took off from an unlit grass airstrip. Approximately 15 minutes later, the pilot called his sister and said he could not see the airstrip and was attempting to land; he asked her to illuminate it with her car headlights. He also stated that he was low on fuel. During a second call, the pilot sounded panicked and exclaimed "get out there!" Additional neighbors arrived and tried to light the runway with their automobile headlights. Still unable to see the runway, the pilot continued flying on an easterly heading away from the airstrip. The airplane then impacted terrain in a nose-down attitude and came to rest inverted in dense marsh covered with trees, foliage, and waist-deep water, about 2 miles from the departure point at a bearing of 112°. The pilot's spouse reported that he rarely flew at night or in dark conditions.
Personnel Information
The pilot's logbook was not recovered. On his application for a medical certificate dated April 27, 2018, he reported 280 total hours of flight experience and 0 hours in the previous 6 months. According to his spouse, he had been flying for at least 5 years and had owned several airplanes.
Aircraft Information
The airplane's airframe and engine logbooks were recovered from the wreckage several days after the accident but were significantly damaged. The last legible maintenance entry was an annual inspection of the airframe completed on June 1, 2013, at an airframe total time of 1,171.15 hours. Subsequent pages could not be deciphered, and no engine logbook details were legible.
Meteorological Information
Night conditions existed at the time of the accident, according to the US Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications department. The sun set at 1859, dusk was at 1923, and the moon (waning crescent) was below the horizon at -29° altitude.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane came to rest inverted in a nose-down attitude in marsh, partially submerged up to the seats in the cockpit. The fuselage aft of the cockpit showed compression damage and buckling. The empennage remained relatively intact, and all control surfaces were attached. The engine compartment was submerged and buried in mud. Due to hazardous conditions at the site, the airplane was not recovered, and no further examination was performed.
Medical and Pathological Information
According to the Florida Medical Examiner’s Office, the pilot's cause of death was drowning with blunt thoracic trauma contributory, and the manner of death was accident. The medical examiner also reported that the pilot had 50% atherosclerosis in segments of his left anterior descending, left circumflex, and right coronary arteries, as well as dilated cardiomyopathy.
Toxicology testing performed for the medical examiner’s office detected delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) at 2.2 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) and ethanol at 0.174 grams per deciliter (gm/dL) in the pilot's iliac blood. The FAA Forensic Sciences Laboratory detected 11-hydroxy-delta-9-THC (a psychoactive metabolite) at 22.6 ng/mL in the pilot's urine and carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (an inactive metabolite) at 2 ng/mL in blood and 20.8 ng/mL in urine. According to the source, cannabis alters motor behavior, time and space perception, and cognition, with significant performance impairments typically observed for at least 1-2 hours after use and residual effects up to 24 hours. However, THC can be stored in fat and detected for days or weeks, so blood and urine results do not necessarily reflect recent use or prove impairment at the time of testing.
The FAA laboratory detected ethanol in the pilot's blood at 0.158 gm/dL, vitreous fluid at 0.164 gm/dL, and urine at 0.214 gm/dL. N-propanol and quinine were also detected in blood and urine. The source describes general effects of ethanol: at blood ethanol concentrations as low as 0.02 gm/dL, relaxation and some loss of judgment; at 0.05 gm/dL, further degradation of judgment, psychomotor functioning, and alertness; above 0.10 gm/dL, prolonged reaction time, altered perception, lack of coordination, slowed thinking, and mood changes; above 0.15 gm/dL, significant loss of muscle control and major loss of balance. FAA regulation Section 91.17 prohibits acting as a crewmember within 8 hours after consuming alcohol or with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater.