Incident Overview
The pilot/owner was conducting a post-maintenance check flight approximately 20 miles offshore. While receiving visual flight advisories from a terminal radar approach facility and maintaining level flight at about 4,900 feet above mean sea level (MSL), the airplane began slowing and then entered a descending right spiral. Radar contact was subsequently lost at around 1,000 feet MSL.
Recovery and Medical Findings
The pilot's body was recovered from the ocean. According to the autopsy report, the pilot had suffered sudden cardiac death secondary to an acute myocardial infarction due to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. A drug screen detected tramadol, a painkiller not approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for use during flight, which may have masked chest pain.
Official Probable Cause
The official probable cause is the pilot's in-flight loss of control due to physical incapacitation from sudden cardiac death secondary to an acute myocardial infarction.