Accident Sequence
During a personal cross-country flight in a newly purchased airplane, the 69-year-old commercial pilot was on final approach to the destination airport under night visual meteorological conditions. Airport surveillance video captured the airplane pitching up and rolling to the right. It then descended in a nose-down attitude, impacting in a ravine on the right side of the runway. During the descent, the right wing contacted a powerline, briefly cutting power to the airport.
Investigation Findings
Postaccident examination of the airframe, engines, and components revealed no evidence of mechanical anomalies or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot's toxicology findings identified five impairing medications: clonazepam, temazepam, hydrocodone, nortriptyline, and diphenhydramine. Although the results were from cavity blood and may not accurately reflect antemortem levels, the hydrocodone, temazepam, and diphenhydramine levels were high enough to likely have had some psychoactive effects. While the exact effects of these drugs in combination are not known, it is likely that the pilot was impaired to some degree by his use of this combination of medications, which likely contributed to his failure to maintain control of the airplane.
Probable Cause
The official probable cause was the pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during a night visual landing approach. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's impairment due to his use of a combination of medications.