According to air traffic control information, the pilot departed Grand Forks International Airport (KGFK) in North Dakota, for a night cross-country flight in the Piper PA-28 to Hector International Airport (KFAR) in Fargo, North Dakota.
The airplane departed Runway 17L, climbed to about 3,700 feet mean sea level, and continued south toward KFAR.
About 30 miles from KGFK, the airplane turned left about 180° and began a rapid descent.
The wreckage was located in a plowed, soft dirt field near Buxton, North Dakota.
The initial impact point was located about 25 feet from the main wreckage. The initial impact contained the two-bladed propeller and propeller hub and several separated sections of the lower forward fuselage.
Fragmented sections of the engine cowling, upper cockpit and windscreen structure, plexiglass, and avionics were found in the debris forward of the main wreckage. Both wing leading edges were crushed aft to the flaps and ailerons. The forward fuselage was crushed aft to the rear cabin bulkhead.
The airplane damage was consistent with a high-angle and high-energy impact with terrain.
An autopsy of the pilot was performed by the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Grand Forks. The autopsy report listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma, and the manner of death as suicide.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s intentional flight into terrain as an act of suicide.
To download the final report. Click here. This will trigger a PDF download to your device.
This October 2021 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.
I googled.. ‘aviation student emotional issues statistics ‘,
and found that there is a serious problem with aviation students with,
‘ Rates of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Collegiate Aviators’.
The reports are from a number of aviation schools…..very sad.
Apparently fear that any reported emotional/ mental issues could affect their medical certificate and their planned aviation career.
So, this is a much larger issue than a report of a young pilot committing suicide.
The finding of suicide was not an NTSB “rush to judgment”.
Besides the NTSB’s final determination, there was a sufficient amount of “evidence” that pointed to suicide almost immediately following the incident.
There was also an enormous amount of press/media coverage that highlighted the
importance of helping folks…student pilots in this case…deal with mental health issues in a high-stress environment.
For example, from Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), February 1, 2022:
“It was after Hauser’s death that his family found letters from him revealing he had been experiencing depression and was worried it would cost him his pilot’s license. He wrote to his parents that life without flying was not worth living.
Hauser’s death by suicide fueled fresh urgency by the administration of the flight school at UND to address the stigma among student aviators around seeking mental health counseling. Robert Kraus, dean of the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences at UND, told host Cathy Wurzer about the effort.”
Regardless;
I’m not sure what the point is in re-visiting this tragedy in General Aviation News.
Personally, in this forum, I’d rather stick to discussing the 2-year-old accident scenarios involving stupid pilot tricks, non-towered airport anarchy, lack of math skills…or any of the five hazardous attitudes.
Curran
I read most of the NTSB data on this crash. Exam of the heart that is listed was, I think the word is, “cursory”. Given the number of sudden deaths we are seeing, and they are typically heart related, the lack of testing for myocarditis | pericarditis may be because the heart was damaged beyond the ability to test for this. But the autopsy notes didn’t say.
I also pulled down the spreadsheet for the ADSB data and I couldn’t find anything that showed me airspeed (I’ve not read an ADSB chart before).
So I wonder: was this a typical NTSB GA rush to judgment in this case?
On the other hand, as airspeed increases, the trim would tend to cause a pitch up of the nose. And the ADSB flight chart did not indicate such a thing — it only showed the 180 degree turn and then a “long stretch” into the ground. If he had gotten this plane inverted because of spatial disorientation, that would have accounted for this kind of crash.
I would think if one intended to commit suicide one would fly below the level of the top of a hill or mountain for a CFIT type of crash.
Eastern North Dakota is flat.
I don’t know how suicide was identified.? Did he leave a note ?
Is it possible that it was ‘dark night’ LOC, spacial disorientation ?
This pilot was only 19 yo and had 123 hrs total… working on an advanced rating.!
Looking at the full report, it shows that the aircraft was owned by University of North Dakota so he was in an accelerated and well organized program.
As for how that assignment of cause as suicide I can only agree with you in questioning how they came up with it. I would think that spacial disorientation would be a far more likely cause than suicide.What I did find through a web search is this quote from a local newspaper:
“Around the same time air traffic control lost contact with the plane, a 911 call was made in Grand Forks about a suicidal person. Due to the investigation it is not being released who called 911 or why they thought the pilot may have been suicidal.”
So no real details but maybe an indication of why they thought what they did.
Can you please add suicide prevention numbers to this article. 988 or text home to 741-741. Suicide contagion occurs when individuals read stories of trauma, grief, or suicidality and when we discuss the methods of it, that further increases the potential. While reporting is still important, giving people knowledges and places to find support when the story is something they read while in a bad headspace can help to save lives.