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Final Report; 2016 RV-4 fatal accident

Toxicology testing performed by the FAA Bioaeronautical Research Sciences Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for the pilot was negative for carbon monoxide and cyanide. The testing identified ethanol at 0.059 gm% in urine, 0.037 gm% in muscle, 0.036 gm% in brain, and 0.033 gm% in blood (unknown source). In addition, 10.1 ng/ml of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the primary psychoactive substance in marijuana) and 13.1 ng/ml of 11-carboxytetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) was identified in blood. THC- COOH was also identified in urine.

Ethanol is the intoxicant commonly found in beer, wine, and liquor. It acts as a central nervous system depressant. The effects of ethanol on aviators are generally well understood; it significantly impairs pilots' performance, even at very low levels. Title 14 CFR section 91.17 (a) prohibits any person from acting or attempting to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft while having 0.040 gm/dl or more ethanol in the blood. Because ingested alcohol is distributed throughout the body, levels from different post mortem tissues are usually similar. Ethanol may also be produced in body tissues by microbial activity after death.

Marijuana is a psychoactive drug with therapeutic levels as low as 0.001 ug/ml. According to NHTSA's Drugs and Human Performance Fact Sheets, "It is difficult to establish a relationship between a person's THC blood or plasma concentration and performance impairing effects. Concentrations of parent drug and metabolite are very dependent on pattern of use as well as dose. THC concentrations typically peak during the act of smoking, while peak 11-OH THC concentrations occur approximately 9-23 minutes after the start of smoking. Concentrations of both analytes decline rapidly and are often < 0.005 ug/mL at 3 hours." A detailed report of the toxicological results is included in the public docket associated with the investigation.

Just the facts, do the math and draw your own conclusions.
 
A half-inch line is invisible in flight, and nearly invisible even when standing still unless you're able to get just the right contrast/background/lighting conditions. There's no hope of "see and avoid" tactics helping you avoid a line of this size while flying.
 
NEVER low fly in an area you have not previously recce'd. Even that caution is useless unless you can guarantee that nothing has been erected/strung since your recce...

I know of three people killed and two aircraft destroyed after encountering a wire because of spur-of-the-moment low flying.
 
NEVER low fly in an area you have not previously recce'd. Even that caution is useless unless you can guarantee that nothing has been erected/strung since your recce...

g.

Yep. Some years back a Mooney crashed, fatally, in the Altamont pass east of KLVK. Scud running in the dark. They hit a high tension line that had been installed while they were away.
 
They hit a Zipline cable, right? Powerlines at least may give you chart depictions and towers to see. A zipline in the trees gives neither.
 
Common Killers

Life is too short to fly impaired. Not surprising, if this is indeed a contributing factor.

Yeah, too many passengers have been killed shortly after a pilot says: "Hey, watch this..."; and if the pilot is on drugs, all fear may be gone which further increases the likelihood of a bad outcome!

Doug

RV-9A FWF
RV-3A restored / sold
 
One more to add

NEVER low fly in an area you have not previously recce'd. Even that caution is useless unless you can guarantee that nothing has been erected/strung since your recce...

I know of three people killed and two aircraft destroyed after encountering a wire because of spur-of-the-moment low flying.

I can add a close friend to that list killed by power lines; in a known/familiar area. Walker was a 13k US Navy trained Delta captain. No one is immune. Fly smart and safe.

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20160324X32128&key=1

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2016/03/fatal-accident-occurred-march-24-2016.html
 
This makes me sad.... Flying low can be fun. From personal experience I only do it when I know the area, typically right over the runway, ie, low pass. It still has risks. Hitting a bird at 200 mph, will cause major damage to plane and you, if it comes through windscreen (and it will). Good face/eye protection (ie helmet) is not a bad idea. Of course birds come at all altitudes, but it's more likely at lower altitudes.

I read an NTSB accident report of RV flying low over river. It hit a ZIP line across the river (uncharted). The pilot was killed. I have flow low along rivers before. It is fun and you think you are safe... Wires are bad and you can hit them even when not flying low. Some radio/TV towers are 1000-2000 feet AGL. Flying into the sun, hitting a tower or guy wire has happened..

Piper Arrow at an FBO I rented from decades ago, being flown by another pilot, lost an eye from impact with bird in cruise flight about 1000 ft AGL.
 
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