About 15 minutes after departing Mitchell Municipal Airport (KMHE) in South Dakota, the pilot contacted Sioux Falls Approach Control and reported that he was having chest pains, was blacking out, and was having difficulty maintaining control of the Piper PA28.
Radar track data indicated the airplane was traveling southeast. The airplane then circled for about 6 minutes, briefly headed northwest, and began circling again. The controller continued to communicate with the pilot for about 20 minutes before radio contact was lost.
The pilot crashed in a field about near Salem, S.D., about 30 nautical miles east-southeast of the departure airport. He died in the crash.
The airplane’s wreckage was found resting upright in the field. The cockpit was crushed and the empennage was facing north. A debris field, wheel tracks, and ground scars in the field indicated that the airplane hit the ground about 600 to 800 feet north of where it came to rest.
The wreckage was subsequently examined by an FAA inspector and airframe manufacturer’s representative. The examination revealed no preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
Probable Cause: The incapacitating effects of an acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), which resulted in the pilot’s loss of airplane control and impact with terrain.
This January 2019 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
There’s one simple truth, and that’s you can’t catch every medical problem, no matter how hard you try, and given the accident data, is it worth the additional expense and red tape? Sure we could demand that every pilot have a full body scan, MRI/CAT scan etc. Make the medical exam cost thousands of dollars, but the total impact to aviation safety would be nil.
Is there a valid need for a private/recreational/light sport pilot to pass a more stringent medical than the average driver? Only in an emotionally based context. The risks are identical in each case (a crash, deaths of passengers/bystanders), though the pilot has been more thoroughly checked – having had at least one third class medical before basic med, and continued basic med requires training and self evaluation. The pilot should have a more rigorous understanding of their medical requirements for safe operation, while drivers in many states simply have to pass an eye test, once, and not much else for the remainder of their driving careers (in my state anyway).
Sudden, extreme incapacitation or death is pretty rare, increasing medical requirements in response to a single event (or even a few events clustered together) is a knee-jerk reaction – and so of course John Q. Public will demand it, because of the sensation of an aviation accident.
Instead lets use Data based decisions – more people die from continued VFR into IMC, and Stall-spin/loss of control than any other causes. Pilot incapacitation doesn’t even make the list. So the appropriate response is to monitor the data for rates and trends.
Admittedly we are getting older as a demographic, but the vast majority of pilots fly safe, and make good judgements. It’s irresponsible to apply blanket requirements to an entire group due to an remote event.
I have to wonder why he flew around for 20 minutes after the event while.still able to communicate with the controller, instead of returning to the airport he had left 15 minutes previously.
For those thinking there needs to be a complete shakeup of medical evaluations over one person having an incident presumed to be a heart attack, then ground all aircraft until it’s proven none will ever have a mechanical or atmospheric induced accident.
Personally I have a stack of medical records showing misdiagnoses and incompetence dating back 25 years starting with diagnosing level 3 colon cancer with a class A tumor as……indigestion and a script for Zantac.
The last event was blacking out and crashing while driving. Was on blood pressure meds for a nonexistent blood pressure problem. It had finally drove my pressure down so far blackouts started. After months of repeated testing, including EKGs and wearing a heart monitor 24/7 for a month, being treated for walking pneumonia, it finally took a respiratory doctor to immediately recognize the problem, I don’t have high blood pressure. I do have White Coat syndrome, elevates when going to a doctor, not uncommon. Just got my new CDL medical yesterday, took 3 tests before my BP came down to passing, which is lower than airman requirements. Unfortunately most practitioners overlook the regs defining high blood pressure as “sustained over a number of days”.
It’s a very slippery slope indeed, be careful what you wish for or everyone will be grounded.
I have said for years that the FAA required medical is a joke. It is a “feel good” requirement! If anyone thinks that even a 1st class medical will provide a safe pilot you are kidding yourself! There is only one way to attempt to prevent a possible heart attack and that is with a heart cath. , not a stress test, not a office visit to your local FAA medical examiner. We as pilots, for the most part, like to think of our selves as logical thinking problem solvers that can provide for ourselves and passengers the safest, and hopefully enjoyable, flight possible. I personally think that the only medical exam needed is one for Commercial pilots who carry passengers, and then make it yearly with a heart cath after a certain age point. Details/specifics etc, of course are debatable. It’s way beyond time for the FAA to come up to speed on a realistic and real world medical eval program!
The pilot was flying without a 3rd class medical (see docket medical report), however he had received a physical exam and had requested that the examining physician complete the required form for BasicMed. However, he failed to forward required documentation to the FAA (see below). His last 3rd class medical was in 2016, three years prior to the fatal accident. The post accident medical report provides a summary of his medical exams from his last (expired) 3rd class medical to the date of his fatal accident:
…”According to the pilot’s FAA airman file, he had not applied for BasicMed.”
… “The 69 year old pilot had reported chronic high blood pressure controlled with
medication, to the FAA. In addition, he held a Statement of Demonstrated Ability
(SODA) issued in 1983, for defective distant vision. His third class medical certificate,
limited by a requirement he wear corrective lenses, expired 10/31/2018. However, it
appears he had completed the physician attestation requirement for BasicMed but had not forwarded it to the FAA.”
At the time of the exam he met all of the criteria for issuance. But… this accident occurred years after the 3rd class medical exam, and months after his attempt to get BasicMed. So the questions are these: How is any medical going to capture events of the future? How much invasive, expensive, and perhaps potentially risky testing warranted? We don’t require cylinders to be pulled at every annual, so why would we catheterize pilot’s hearts beginning at 40 or 45? It’s not known, but quite possible the pilot was feeling a bit ill before he launched. People I’ve known (past tense) who survived their first heart attack said they felt off but ignored it. Maybe, just maybe, we need pilots to be a lot more honest about pre-flight of self. You know, that IMSAFE stuff that I heard described by one pilot as “crap”. ‘Til then, be very careful what you wish for. The needlessly grounded pilot may be….
It simply doesn’t matter what piece of paper he had in the pocket. Most physicals wouldn’t pick up on a sudden heart attack without a stress test and complete cardio work up and even at that, the possibility is still not zero. It’s not a perfect world and the older one gets, the more one realizes that. Life is fragile.
Sorry folks, but medicals do not really have an absolute record. One of my customers had a second class physical at 9 AM and died of a heart attack at noon. There simply is no way to know when it is your turn to go.
If this guy had killed people on the ground it may have also killed Basic Med…this is the major problem with it because an AME would have caught the guys hypertension and heart disease.
Are you kidding ???? Airline pilots with Class I physicals and their Company’s watching them die in the cockpit. Where does it say this guy was on BasicMed ??
First Class medical certification require an electrocardiogram (a.k.a. ECG or EKG) on the first physical examination after age 35 and annually after age 40. No one publishes how many pilots fail these exams and are prevented from having a heart attack in a cockpit.
I had a heart attack at 46 and the E.K.G. at the emergeancy room didn’t pick it up. If they hadn’t caught it with a blood gas test they were ready to send me home. I didn’t has high blood pressure ether.
Always a good thing when facts drive conclusions. Pilots, more than most, should base a decision on the best evidence. So where is the evidence to support the medical classification for this deceased pilot?
It’s all in the full report. Click the red link. Look at “Logbook excerpts.” Clearly says Basic Med as his last medical.
There is nothing in this article or in any other sources I could find on the web that says he had high blood pressure. Also there is nothing to indicate that he was flying under Basic Med at the time of the accident. All I can find is that his 3rd class was a couple of months out of date. Your assertion that an AME performing a 3rd class medical would have detected the problem is also completely without merit unless you are a medical professional and had access to the full autopsy report.
It’s in the attached documents on the report. Click on the logbook excerpts. It clearly shows his last medical was basic med and it was current.
Using the AP to set a heading toward the nearest medical help and a low cruise pier and 2 degree down with half flaps might be best thing.
A parachute to bring the airplane down might have saved the pilot’s life. Certainly would have made Arcs task easier.
I have never seen a PA28 with an AP installed. The problem that I see is that this accident pilot was looking for a place to happen. First order: check thy self, Second order: check the aircraft, as far a acft. parachutes change the plane to a Cirrus SR series. They crash those ever week in the US.
No need to wonder. Click the link and read the full report.
He was 69 years old. Held a PPL. 2500+ hours. He was flying under a current Basic Med.
Wondering if the pilot had an FAA-issued medical certificate, whether Class I, II or III.