ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 157744
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| Date: | Monday 22 July 2013 |
| Time: | 18:30 |
| Type: |  Cessna 172M Skyhawk |
| Owner/operator: | Jls Aviation, Llc |
| Registration: | N61954 |
| MSN: | 17264911 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1975 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 10100 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-320-E2D |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Near Shannon Airport (KEZF), Fredericksburg, VA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Fredericksburg, VA (EZF) |
| Fredericksburg, VA (EZF) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
About 30 minutes before the flight, the pilot reserved the airplane to complete “pattern work.” The pilot's fiancée arrived at the airport as the pilot was walking toward the airplane, and, following a brief altercation, the pilot boarded the airplane and took off. About that time, sheriff’s deputies arrived at the airport because they had been notified by the pilot’s fiancée that she believed the pilot intended to commit suicide. The deputies, fiancée, and flight instructor subsequently observed the airplane maneuver erratically before climbing to an altitude of about 3,000 feet. The airplane then pitched down into a near-vertical descent. The witnesses reported hearing the engine increase to “full” power. The airplane impacted the ground at high speed and then burst into flames. Although the wreckage was significantly fragmented and fire-damaged, no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation were observed. The pilot had been diagnosed with “severe recurrent major depression” about 7 weeks before the accident and was subsequently prescribed an antidepressant and advised to seek counseling. The medical examiner determined that the manner of death was “suicide.” Postmortem toxicological testing of the pilot’s remains revealed the presence of ethanol; however, the investigation was unable to determine if preflight ethanol ingestion played a role in pilot’s decision-making.
Probable Cause: The pilot's intentional descent into the ground to commit suicide.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=61954
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Jul-2013 00:18 | Geno | Added |
| 23-Jul-2013 01:45 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 23-Jul-2013 15:10 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 29-Nov-2017 08:51 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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