Piper PA-32RT-300 N9243C

Summary

On 29 November 2009 at about 22:15 local time, a Piper PA-32RT-300 registered N9243C, operated by Emmett Oryan, was involved in an accident near Memphis, Tennessee, United States. 4 people were on board and one died, 3 were seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

29 November 2009 at 22:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Nearest airport

Memphis International Airport (MEM)

Coordinates

35.0425, -89.9767

Aircraft

Piper PA-32RT-300

Registration

N9243C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Emmett Oryan

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lewisburg → Memphis

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA10LA082

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to execute a timely missed approach and subsequent failure to maintain aircraft control, after he was unable to establish the airplane on the instrument approach. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's possible impairment due to his medical condition and/or medication use.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting an instrument landing system (ILS) approach, in instrument weather conditions, to his home airport after a 4 hour, 20 minute flight. According to air traffic control radar and voice data, the airplane maintained a parallel course, left of the runway centerline, for the entire approach, and when it was about 3 miles from the end of the runway, it descended below the glideslope. The air traffic controller issued two low altitude alerts over the next few minutes, after which the pilot acknowledged and initiated a climb. During the second climb, the ground speed decreased, and the pilot banked to the right and then sharply to the left. The groundspeed continued to decrease until the airplane stalled and impacted a grass area about 1 mile from the end of the runway. Witnesses reported the airplane appeared to be aligned with a parallel (center) runway, instead of the (left) runway the pilot was cleared for, when it descended from below the cloud layer. The pilot, who was also a co-owner of the airplane, had a significant amount of total and instrument flight experience. He flew the accident airplane exclusively for the previous 11 years, and had conducted numerous instrument approaches at his home airport. Weight and balance calculations revealed, at the time of the accident the airplane center of gravity was at about 99.26 inches aft of the airplane datum or approximately 3.26 inches aft of the rear center of gravity (CG) limit. The pilot had a long history of significant liver disease (cirrhosis) as a result of chronic hepatitis C, and was apparently experiencing symptoms of insomnia and lethargy possibly related to his liver disease. He was regularly prescribed (for sleep) an evening dose of a potentially impairing medication (clonazepam) typically contraindicated in significant liver disease and a daily dose of a wakefulness-promoting medication (modafanil). The pilot and his physician had omitted information regarding the pilot's known cirrhosis, symptoms, and use of medications in information submitted to the FAA. Evidence of actively worsening liver disease was noted on autopsy. It is possible that the pilot's judgment and/or performance were somewhat impaired by chronic effects of hepatitis C or by the effect of a sudden deterioration in his condition. It is also possible the pilot may have been impaired as a result of his use of a prescription medication for sleep, particularly given that the metabolism of that medication may have been adversely affected by his liver disease. An inactive marijuana metabolite was detected in the pilot's urine on post-mortem toxicological testing, suggesting only that the pilot had used marijuana sometime in the previous days or weeks.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.