Cessna 172L N4380Q

Summary

On 19 September 2008 at about 21:00 local time, a Cessna 172L registered N4380Q, operated by York Aviation, Inc., was involved in an accident near York, Nebraska, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 September 2008 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

York, Nebraska, United States

Nearest airport

York Municipal (JYR)

Coordinates

40.8969, -97.6228

Aircraft

Cessna 172L

Registration

N4380Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

York Aviation, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

York → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN08FA155

2 people died.

The student pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control, and the flight instructor's failure to take remedial action, for undetermined reasons.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and student pilot were planning to do touch-and-go landings. A witness reported that the airplane took off on Runway 17, climbed about 100 feet, and then nosed down. The weather was clear and the wind was nearly straight down the runway. The flight instructor had logged nearly 3,000 hours of total flight time, with over 600 hours instruction and over 600 hours in the Cessna 172. Examination of the aircraft revealed no evidence of a preimpact mechanical malfunction. The flight instructor had a long history of diabetes, and had recently started a new injectable medication (exenatide, 10 micrograms twice a day) to help control his blood sugar. This medication can result in impairment due to low blood sugar, but he had not reported any adverse effects, and he was observed to be behaving normally the day prior to and the day of the accident. He was at extremely high risk of obstructive sleep apnea given his height (70 inches), weight (285 pounds), and poorly controlled blood pressure. Obstructive sleep apnea often results in impairment, but he was apparently not observed to snore while sleeping, a hallmark of the condition. Autopsy revealed an enlarged heart (it weighed 500 grams), but it was not thickened, suggesting an apparently unrecognized heart condition, dilated cardiomyopathy, that can result in sudden incapacitation. Given the failure of this experienced instructor pilot to either execute a normal climbout or appropriately oversee the climbout by his novice student, it is possible that he was incapacitated by a cardiac event. It is also possible, though less likely, that he was impaired either by unrecognized low blood sugar as a result of his new diabetes medication or by fatigue from unrecognized obstructive sleep apnea. However, the investigation could not conclusively determine if the instructor was impaired at the time of the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.