SKANEATELES, NY, USA
N80JB
BEECH BE-58
THE PILOT DEPARTED VFR INTO IMC (FOG AND LOW CLOUD CEILINGS PRIOR TO RECEIVING HIS IFR CLEARANCE. THE AIRPLANE WAS AIRBORNE APPROXIMATELY 6 MINUTES BEFORE IT COLLIDED WITH TREES AND THE GROUND. THE INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE PILOT AND PASSENGERS HAD ATTENDED A FUNERAL THE DAY BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. ADDITIONALLY, BENZOYLECGONINE [COCAINE METABOLITES] LEVELS OF 0.101 UG/ML IN THE BLOOD AND 0.629 IN THE URINE WERE REVEALED IN THE PILOT'S TOXICOLOGICAL SAMPLES. A BENZOYLECGONINE LEVEL OF 0.906 UG/ML IN THE BLOOD WAS REVEALED IN THE TOXICOLOGY SAMPLE FOR THE PILOT'S WIFE. A HUMAN PERFORMANCE LEVEL STUDY CONDUCTED BY THE SAFETY BOARD REVEALED THAT IT IS 'POSSIBLE THAT THE COCAINE USAGE (BY THE PILOT) EXACERBATED FEELINGS OF EUPHORIA AND INCREASED THE LIKELIHOOD OF A PRIOR DECISION TO TAKEOFF WITHOUT AN IFR CLEARANCE AT A TIME WHEN HIS CAPABILITIES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY COMPROMISED.'
THE PILOT'S LOSS OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS/DISORIENTATION DUE TO THE INFLUENCES OF COCAINE, WHICH RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF AIRPLANE CONTROL IN INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPAIRMENT, FATIGUE AND ANXIETY.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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