Cessna 182 — Lincolnton, GA

What happened

While flying to his private, home airfield, the pilot overflew at low altitude an area of land owned by his family. Witnesses described the first “pass” over a nearby pond as “low” at an estimated 60 ft above the ground. One witness described the low-altitude flight as being a typical “fly by” maneuver that the pilot would perform upon returning home. After the first pass, the pilot performed a left circling turn and another pass over the pond. During the second pass, a witness reported that the altitude was about 50 ft above the ground, and as the airplane flew between groups of trees, the right wing was pointed “almost straight up in the air” before the airplane descended and impacted the ground. The description of the right wing pointing upward is consistent with an extreme left roll attitude and is likely indicative of a loss of control that was possibly a result of intentional maneuvering as part of the “fly-by” or due to a sudden maneuver to avoid an obstacle (such as trees).

A postaccident examination of the airframe revealed no preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Water and impact damage prevented a thorough examination of the engine; however, a witnesses described the engine noise as “steady” prior to impact. That, along with the twisting damage exhibited by both propeller blades, suggest that the engine was likely operating at the time of the accident.

The pilot’s toxicological test results were positive for antidepressant and allergy medications. The antidepressant was not detected in blood and therefore was likely below therapeutic levels. While there were no medical records available to evaluate the severity of the pilot’s depression and when he was diagnosed, by the accounts provided, the pilot was not exhibiting any unusual behavior; while the low fly-by homecoming was not a safe procedure, it was the pilot’s usual habit when returning to his home airfield. The concentration of allergy medication was not listed in the test results, suggesting that the levels were below therapeutic levels.

While the pilot appears to have taken two medications that can have impairing effects and may have had a psychological condition that could decrease performance, given the circumstances of this accident and the concentrations of the medications detected, it is unlikely that effects from the pilot’s use of citalopram and cetirizine or his depression were factors in the accident.

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