Crash of a Piper PA-60 Aerostar (Ted Smith 600) off Avalon: 1 killed
Date & Time:
Nov 21, 1999 at 1015 LT
Registration:
N97CC
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Fullerton - Fullerton
MSN:
60-0154-068
YOM:
1974
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Captain / Total hours on type:
951.00
Aircraft flight hours:
4199
Circumstances:
The pilot/owner was performing a post maintenance check flight about 20 miles off shore. He was receiving visual flight advisories from a terminal radar approach facility while in level flight about 4,900 feet msl. Subsequently, the airplane started slowing then descending in a right spiral, and radar contact was lost about 1,000 feet msl. The pilot's body was recovered from the ocean. According to the autopsy report, the pilot had experienced sudden cardiac death secondary to an acute myocardial infarction due to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. Tramadol, a painkiller not approved by the FAA for flight, was detected in a drug screen and may have masked the chest pain.
Probable cause:
The pilot's in-flight loss of control due to physical incapacitation from sudden cardiac death secondary to an acute myocardial infarction.
Final Report:
