Controlled Flight Into Terrain · NTSB CEN16LA203
CESSNA 150 — Penwell, TX
| Date | June 2, 2016 |
| Location | Penwell, TX |
| Aircraft | CESSNA 150 |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Night · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Enroute Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT) |
| Pilot age | 45 |
| Pilot total time | 5,359 hrs · High time |
| Time in type | 450 hrs |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
The pilot’s intentional flight into a silo.
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Miscellaneous-Intentional act-Suicide-Pilot - C
- Personnel issues-Physical-Health/Fitness-Use of medication/drugs-Pilot
- Personnel issues-Physical-Health/Fitness-Use of alcohol-Pilot
What happened
The commercial pilot telephoned his wife from his car and told her he was en route to his company's airplane hangar and was going to kill himself. She alerted her husband's employer, who then alerted the police department. The pilot took the airplane without the company's permission and then flew it into a 138-ft-tall silo. The autopsy report cited the manner of death as being "consistent with suicide."