- Date
- August 18, 2022, 10:15, time zone not recorded
- Place
- Atlantic Ocean (Atlantic Ocean) · Atlantic Ocean
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N6713ACessna 172
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20220818023189A
- Case key
- 105768
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's suicide.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, they received a notification of a downed aircraft 15 nautical miles east from Pompano Beach, Florida. They responded to the location and confirmed, debris of an airplane and a deceased occupant. The Coast Guard then received a call from the wife of the pilot regarding a note that she received expressing possible suicidal intentions. She described her spouse and the airplane, which matched the recovered debris and the occupant. The wreckage of the airplane was not otherwise recovered, and the airplane was presumed destroyed. A review of Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) flight track data showed that the airplane departed from Pompano Beach Airpark, Pompano Beach, Florida, before flying northwest for about 10 nautical miles. The airplane then began circling before heading west towards the Atlantic Ocean. While over the ocean, the airplane made a turn to the north before radar/ADS-B contact was lost. Following a death investigation, the Office of Medical Examiner, Palm Beach County classified the manner of death as a suicide.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6713A
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28813
- Built
- 1956
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- JD Schools LLC.
- Registered owner
- JD Schools LLC.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- PMP · Pompano, FL
- Airport
- PMP · Pompano Beach Airpark
- Equipment
- ADS-B
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 65
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 13,800 total · 525 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.99 inHg
- Observed at
- KPBI, 16 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KPBI 181453Z 25008KT 10SM SCT032 SCT250 31/23 A2999 RMK AO2 SLP153 T03110233 51009
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 11, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.