ERA21LA020

The student pilot took off from an unlit grass airstrip at dusk. The moon (in the waning crescent phase) was well below the horizon at -29° altitude, so dark conditions existed shortly into the flight. About 15 minutes after takeoff, he contacted his sister stating he was low on fuel, trying to land, and he could not see the airstrip. He asked her to light up the airstrip with her car headlights. The pilot called a second time during which he sounded panicked and exclaimed “get out there!” Neighbors arrived and attempted to illuminate the airstrip with their vehicle headlights. Still unable to see the airstrip, the pilot flew on an easterly heading away from the airstrip where the airplane ultimately impacted a marsh in a nose-down attitude. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine could not be accomplished due to hazardous conditions at the wreckage site. The student pilot’s autopsy findings included moderate coronary atherosclerosis and dilated cardiomyopathy. There was no operational or medical evidence to suggest that an acute cardiac event occurred; thus, it is unlikely that such an occurrence was a factor in the accident. Toxicology testing of the pilot’s specimens revealed evidence of cannabis usage that may have occurred sometime earlier on the day of the accident. However, blood concentrations do not correlate well with impairment and cannot be used to prove that the user was experiencing the effects of cannabis at the time of testing. Metabolism and elimination depend on the means of ingestion, potency of the product, frequency of use, and user characteristics; none of this information was available to evaluate concerning the pilot’s cannabis usage. Thus, based on the information provided, while the pilot was found to have cannabis in his system, it could not be determined if the pilot’s use of cannabis contributed to the accident. Toxicology testing of the pilot’s specimens also revealed ethanol in blood, vitreous fluid, and urine. The concentration of ethanol detected in his blood is associated with impairment. The pilot’s use of alcohol would affect his ability to assess the airworthiness of his airplane, limit his self-control in choosing to fly while under the influence, and impact his ability to safely manage his flight. Since vitreous fluid does not suffer from postmortem microbial production to any significant extent, the ethanol concentration in vitreous fluid suggests that ingestion was the major source of ethanol in the blood. The description of the sequence of events as reported by the pilot’s sister further supports that the pilot’s judgment, behavior, and motor skills were influenced by the effects of ethanol. Given the pilot’s impairment from ethanol (alcohol), he likely performed an inadequate preflight inspection and departed with an inadequate fuel supply. Additionally, he failed to perceive the risk of departing from an unlit grass airstrip in increasingly dark conditions. It is likely that, onceairborne and after the sky became dark, the pilot could not find nor see the airstrip. With the airplane’s dwindling fuel supply, the pilot continued to look for the airstrip but proceeded in the wrong direction. During his search, the engine likely lost power due to fuel exhaustion and the airplane subsequently impacted the marsh.

The airplane airframe and engine logbooks were recovered from the wreckage several days after the accident and were significantly damaged/degraded. The last legible maintenance entry was an annual inspection (airframe) completed on June 1, 2013, at an airframe total time of 1,171.15 hours. Subsequent pages of the logbook could not be deciphered due to damage. No engine logbook details were legible. The sister of the student pilot reported hearing the airplane start up and depart from the student pilot’s property where she also lived about 1930 to 1945 eastern standard time. The airplane departed from an unlit grass airstrip. About 15 minutes after departure, the pilot called his sister and stated that he could not see the airstrip and was attempting to land; he asked her to light it up with her car headlights. He further stated that he was low on fuel. During a second call, the pilot sounded panicked and exclaimed “get out there!” Additional neighbors arrived and attempted to illuminate the runway with their automobile headlights. Still unable to see the runway, he continued to fly on an easterly heading away from the airstrip. The airplane impacted terrain in a nose-down attitude and came to rest inverted in dense marsh covered with trees, foliage, and waist deep water about 112° and 2 miles from the departure point. The pilot’s spouse reported that he rarely flew at night or in dark conditions. According to the Florida Medical Examiner’s Office District 5 & 24 (Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion, Seminole, and Sumter Counties), Leesburg, Florida, autopsy report, the pilot’s cause of death was drowning with blunt thoracic trauma contributory and the manner of death was accident. The medical examiner further reported that the pilot had 50% atherosclerosis in segments of his left anterior descending, left circumflex, and right coronary arteries and dilated cardiomyopathy. Toxicology testing performed for the medical examiner’s office on the pilot’s iliac blood detected cannabis’ primary psychoactive compound delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) at 2.2 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) and ethanol at 0.174 grams per deciliter (gm/dL). FAA Forensic Sciences Laboratory toxicology testing detected THC’s psychoactive metabolite11-hydroxy-delta-9-THC at 22.6 ng/mL in the pilot’s urine; THC’s inactive metabolite carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) was detected in his iliac blood at 2 ng/mL and in his urine at 20.8 ng/mL. Cannabis causes alterations in motor behavior, time and space perception, and cognition. Significant performance impairments are usually observed for at least 1-2 hours following cannabis use, and residual effects have been reported up to 24 hours. THC is rapidly metabolized; however, the rate of metabolism is not linear and depends on the means of ingestion (smoking, oil, and edibles), potency of the product, frequency of use, and user characteristics. The primary metabolite, 11-hydroxy-delta-9-THC, is equally psychoactive, but israpidly metabolized to the non-psychoactive metabolite THC-COOH. THC is fat soluble, so is stored in fatty tissues and can be released back into the blood long after consumption. So, while the psychoactive effects may last a few hours, THC can be detected in the body for days or weeks. Very little THC is excreted in urine. Instead, THC-COOH can be found in urine days to weeks after the last use of the drug. Thus, both blood and urine test results do not necessarily reflect recent use and cannot be used to prove that the user was experiencing effects of the drug at the time of testing. The FAA laboratory detected ethanol in the pilot’s blood, vitreous fluid, and urine at 0.158, 0.164, and 0.214 gm/dL, respectively. N-propanol and quinine were also detected in the student pilot’s iliac blood and urine. Effects of ethanol on aviators are generally well understood; it significantly impairs pilot performance, even at very low levels. While the acute effects of ethanol can vary depending on an individual's frequency of use, body weight, and tolerance, in general, at blood ethanol concentrations as low as 0.02 gm/dL there is relaxation and some loss of judgment and at 0.05 gm/dL there is further degradation of judgment, psychomotor functioning, and alertness. At blood ethanol concentrations above 0.10 gm/dL, there is prolonged reaction time, altered perception of the environment, lack of coordination, slowed thinking, and mood and behavioral changes. Above 0.15 gm/dL, individuals may have significant loss of muscle control and major loss of balance. FAA regulation Section 91.17 (a) prohibits any person from acting or attempting to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft (1) within 8 hours after the consumption of any alcoholic beverage and (4) while having an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater in a blood or breath specimen. Ethanol is water soluble, and after absorption it quickly and uniformly distributes throughout the body’s tissues and fluids. The distribution pattern parallels water content and blood supply of the tissue. Post-absorption, the alcohol concentration in vitreous fluid and urine is larger than blood by about 12% and 25%, respectively. There is a 1-to-2-hour delay in the balance between vitreous fluid or urine and blood. Ethanol can be produced after death by microbial activity often in conjunction with other alcohols such as n-propanol; vitreous humor, and to a lesser extent urine, does not suffer from postmortem production to any significant extent. According to the US Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications department, night conditions existed at the time of the accident. The sun set at 1859 and dusk was at 1923. The moon (waning crescent) was below the horizon at -29° altitude. The pilot's logbook was not recovered. On the application for his most recent medical certificate dated April 27, 2018, he reported 280 total hours of flight experience and 0 hours in the previous 6 months. The spouse of the pilot stated that hehad been flying for at least 5 years and had owned numerous airplanes. The airplane came to rest inverted in a nose-down attitude in marsh, partially submerged to the seats in the cockpit. The fuselage aft of the cockpit showed compression damage and buckling. The empennage remained relatively intact, and all control surfaces remained attached to their respective locations. The engine compartment was submerged and buried in the mud. Due to the hazardous conditions of the accident site, recovery of the airplane was not conducted, and no further examination was performed.