CESSNA 150M — Deming, NM, 2013

CESSNA 150M — Deming, NM

1 fatal Low-time pilot

Date	February 27, 2013
Location	Deming, NM
Aircraft	CESSNA 150M
Purpose of flight	Personal
Conditions	Day · Visual Meteorological Cond
Phase / occurrence	Uncontrolled descent Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
Pilot age	78
Pilot total time	247 hrs · Low time
Time in type	Unknown
Fatalities	1

Probable cause

The pilot's physical incapacitation, including loss of vision, which led to a loss of control and the subsequent in-flight breakup of the airplane.

NTSB findings

Personnel issues-Physical-Impairment/incapacitation-Cardiovascular-Pilot - C
Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C

What happened

During the flight, the pilot reported that he was “in trouble,” experiencing severe pain, and losing his eyesight. Radar contact was lost shortly afterward. The 78-year-old pilot had been issued a limited thirdclass airman medical certificate due to elevated blood pressure. Toxicology testing revealed the presence of irbesartan, which is used mainly for treating hypertension. Although the cause of death was attributed to blunt force trauma, the heart exhibited significant preexisting coronary artery disease with up to 75 percent occlusion in a number of vessels. Wreckage distribution was consistent with an inflight breakup. Therefore, the evidence is consistent with the pilot most likely suffering an acute coronary syndrome, which incapacitated him and caused him to lose control of the airplane. During the loss of control, the airframe was overstressed, which caused it to break up in flight.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.