CESSNA 150L — Forrest City, AR

What happened

According to the passenger, the airplane started to veer to the left once the pilot lowered the nosewheel onto the runway. The pilot asked the passenger if he was on the rudder pedals and the passenger responded that he was not. The pilot then stated that he could not slow the airplane down. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway into the grass and impacted a chain link fence that was parallel to the runway. The pilot was not wearing his seat restraints. He was ejected from the airplane and sustained fatal injuries.

The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings. Examinations of the airplane’s flight controls, and brake assemblies did not reveal any pre-impact anomalies.

The pilot’s toxicology results indicate that he had used diphenhydramine and might have experienced some impairing cognitive effects from it at the time of the accident. Diphenhydramine’s potential for postmortem redistribution complicates more precise interpretation of the drug’s concentration in heart blood, although it is unlikely that the pilot followed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidance to wait 60 hours after using the drug before flying.

The pilot’s lack of medical certification, the unairworthy condition of his airplane, and his decision not to wear his restraints indicate a chronic pattern of tolerating unsafe levels of risk. His diphenhydramine use might be a manifestation of that pattern, but it could not be determined if it significantly contributed to the accident.

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