ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 197026
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| Date: | Thursday 27 July 2017 |
| Time: | 04:52 |
| Type: |  Zenair CH 701 SP |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N701XL |
| MSN: | 7-4618 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2003 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 1142 hours |
| Engine model: | Rotax 912ULS |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Laddonia, Ralls County, MO -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Mexico, MO (KMYJ) |
| Oshkosh, WI (KOSH) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Although he had no night or instrument flight experience, the sport pilot departed in a non-instrument-certificated light sport airplane at night with an overcast ceiling and thunderstorms in the area. Radar data showed that the airplane proceeded on course for about 9 minutes and then entered a right descending turn that continued to ground impact, which was consistent with the pilot attempting to return to the departure airport and not paying attention to his altitude. Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane struck open level farm land in a right wing-low, nose-low attitude. Examination of the engine and airframe did not reveal any evidence of preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that the pilot continued visual flight into an area of instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot experiencing a loss of visual reference and subsequent spatial disorientation.
The pilot had a history of chronic insomnia treated with temazepam, a sedating benzodiazepine, and was regularly prescribed hydrocodone, an opioid analgesic. Toxicology testing detected these drugs and their metabolites in the pilot's system. The pilot was likely impaired by effects from his use of temazepam, and the impairing effects of temazepam were likely enhanced by the pilot's use of hydrocodone. It is likely that the pilot's decision-making was degraded due to his combined use of temazepam and hydrocodone.
Probable Cause: The pilot's decision to take off at night and continue visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions. which resulted in the pilot becoming spatially disoriented and losing control of the airplane. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's degraded decision-making due to his use of a combination of impairing prescription drugs, and the pilot's lack of instrument and night flight experience.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N701XL
Location
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Jul-2017 17:36 | gerard57 | Added |
| 28-Jul-2017 17:36 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 28-Jul-2017 22:51 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 29-Jul-2017 04:19 | Geno | Updated [Source] |
| 29-Jul-2017 13:28 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Location, Narrative] |
| 31-Jul-2017 05:44 | Anon. | Updated [Location] |
| 07-Aug-2017 06:13 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Oct-2018 17:06 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 15-Oct-2018 17:21 | harro | Updated [Source, Narrative, Photo] |
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