# NTSB ERA12LA578: Cessna 172B, N8059X, Atlantic Ocean (Atlantic Ocean), September 23, 2012 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: September 23, 2012, 04:30 local (08:30 UTC) - Place: Atlantic Ocean (Atlantic Ocean) - Coordinates: 37.634864, -72.861099 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=37.6349&lon=-72.8611&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Maneuvering](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/450) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Maneuvering: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 1 fatal - Status: Completed, report May 9, 2013 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation - Parties: FAA/FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 85144 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA12LA578 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/85144/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=85144 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA12LA578 ## Probable cause The pilot’s suicidal act. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Intentional act: suicide](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02051015): Personnel issues › Miscellaneous · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172B, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02051015/cases.md?model=2072406), [All aircraft, 23 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02051015/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Maneuvering: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 172B, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120/sequence.md?model=2072406), [All aircraft, 1,074 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot had been experiencing difficulties in his personal life and had joked with a clergyman about 2 days before the accident that he should, “just fly his plane into the ocean.” The pilot was subsequently reported missing. The investigation revealed that he arrived at the airport where his airplane was kept about 2 o’clock in the morning the day of the accident. Radar data showed that a primary radar target departed the airport vicinity about 45 minutes later and flew east. After a brief period of maneuvering over the open ocean about 21 nautical miles from shore, radar contact with the target was lost. A portion of airplane wreckage was recovered from the ocean later that day by a commercial diving vessel and was subsequently identified as being of the same make, model, and vintage as the accident airplane. No further wreckage was recovered, nor were the remains of the pilot. A hand-written suicide note was found inside the pilot’s vehicle, which was parked in the airplane’s hangar. ## Factual narrative On September 23, 2012, about 0430 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172B, N8059X, was substantially damaged following impact with the Atlantic Ocean. The certificated commercial pilot was not found and presumed fatally injured. Dark night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight, which departed from Herlong Recreational Airport (HEG), Jacksonville, Florida, about 0242. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. According to information provided by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the pilot was reported missing by a clergyman on September 25, 2012. According to the clergyman, he had last spoken with the pilot about two days before the accident flight, and during the conversation the pilot confided difficulties he was undergoing in his personal life. The pilot also joked during the conversation, “I should just fly my plane into the ocean.” During a subsequent investigation by the Sheriff’s Office it was revealed that the pilot’s airplane was also missing, and his vehicle was parked in the airplane’s hangar at HEG. Review of electronic access records at showed that the pilot last entered the airport on September 23 at 0204. Additionally, upon searching the pilot’s vehicle, the officers discovered a hand-written suicide note that was dated September 23, 2012 at 0225. Radar information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Jacksonville Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), showed a primary radar target with no associated transponder beacon departing the vicinity of HEG about 0242. The target tracked northeast over the city of Jacksonville, Florida, before it turned southeast bound and headed out over the Atlantic Ocean. About 22 nautical miles east of Saint Augustine, Florida, the target began tracking north. About 0422, the target began maneuvering until the final radar target was observed at 0429, about 21 nautical miles east of Mayport Naval Station (NRB), Mayport, Florida (30 degrees 23.219 minutes north by 81 degrees 0.378 minutes west). Radar tracks recorded by three other radar facilities showed a similar primary radar target departing from HEG and terminating over the Atlantic Ocean within 20 seconds of the data recorded by Jacksonville TRACON. About 1230, a commercial diving vessel recovered an approximate 4-foot by 4-foot section of aircraft debris at 30 degrees 22.764 minutes north by 80 degrees 59.140 minutes west, about 1.2 nautical miles southeast of the final recorded radar target. After receiving notification from the FAA regarding a missing aircraft on September 25, the US Coast Guard undertook a search for the pilot and the airplane in the vicinity of the last observed radar target and where the aircraft debris was recovered. The search subsequently ceased on September 26, and neither the pilot nor any additional wreckage was recovered. Photographs of the recovered debris were forwarded to the airframemanufacturer and later identified as exhibiting features consistent with those of the inboard wing section and fuel tank of a model year 1961 Cessna 172B. Additionally, a placard allowing for the use of unleaded automotive gasoline was observed adjacent to the fuel filler port. Review of FAA airworthiness records for the accident airplane showed that a supplemental type certificate allowing for the use of unleaded automotive gasoline was filed in January 1988. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N8059X](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N8059X-2018-01-09), registration cancelled 2018-01-09, S/N 17248559, built 1961 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 172B - Registry model: [Cessna 172B](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172b) (registry code 2072406) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental 0-300 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-0-300-series) (registry code 17022, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 17248559 - Engines: Continental Motors O-300 145 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Departed: HEG, Jacksonville, FL - Destination: UNKNOWN ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 48; injuries: fatal; flight instructor, commercial; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine sea, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, with waivers/limitations; flight hours: 1,039 total ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Night/dark - Wind: 260° at 3 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 73 °F, dew point 68 °F - Altimeter: 30.02 inHg - Observed at: NRB, 21 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20120923022599A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20120923022599A), Sep 23, 2012: Cessna 172B, Jacksonville, FL, Destroyed, 1 fatal. Southern region operations center & the NTSB reported to this office that remnants of a small aircraft was sited and recovered off the coast near Jacksonville.… ## Docket (9 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 22, 2013, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=85144. 6.1 MB in all. - Police Report (item 1, .PDF, 1.2 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40388083&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Police%20Report-Redacted.PDF - Memorandum for Record - Coast Guart Report (Excerpts) (item 2, .PDF, 130 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40388072&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Memorandum%20for%20Record%20-%20Coast%20Guart%20Report%20(Excerpts)-Master.PDF - Plotted Radar Data (item 3, .PDF, 4.2 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40388074&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Plotted%20Radar%20Data-Master.PDF - Memorandum for Record - Telephone Interview, Boat Captain (item 4, .PDF, 117 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40388071&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Memorandum%20for%20Record%20-%20Telephone%20Interview,%20Boat%20Captain-Master.PDF - Photo 1 - Fuel Cap and Placard (Photo Courtesy of FAA) (item 5, .PDF, 77 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40388063&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photo%201%20-%20Fuel%20Cap%20and%20Placard%20(Photo%20Courtesy%20of%20FAA)-Master.PDF - Photo 2 - Fuel Cap Placard (Photo Courtesy of FAA) (item 6, .PDF, 82 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40388064&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photo%202%20-%20Fuel%20Cap%20Placard%20(Photo%20Courtesy%20of%20FAA)-Master.PDF - Photo 3 - Lower Portion of Recovered Wing with Fuel Tank (Photo Courtesy of FAA) (item 7, .PDF, 88 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40388070&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photo%203%20-%20Lower%20Portion%20of%20Recovered%20Wing%20with%20Fuel%20Tank%20(Photo%20Courtesy%20of%20FAA)-Master.PDF - Letter from Cessna Regarding Component Identification (item 8, .PDF, 120 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40388085&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Letter%20from%20Cessna%20Regarding%20Component%20Identification-Redacted.PDF - Automotive Gasoline STC Blueprint (item 9, .PDF, 180 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40388089&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Automotive%20Gasoline%20STC%20Blueprint-Redacted.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.