Piper PA-28-160 N5076W

Summary

On 23 November 2012, a Piper PA-28-160 registered N5076W was involved in an accident near Tacna, Arizona, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 November 2012

Classification

Accident

Location

Tacna, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

32.3381, -113.6636

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-160

Registration

N5076W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tucson → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR13FA058

1 person died.

The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s impairment due to acute psychosis with paranoid thoughts.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Without clearance or communication with air traffic control, the pilot took off in the airplane from a taxiway and departed the airport area westbound. Five days later, the airplane wreckage was found 160 miles west of the departure airport. Postaccident examination of the wreckage determined that the airplane impacted the ground in a near vertical attitude. Further examination of the airplane and engine revealed no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot had been treated in the past for depression, a seizure disorder, an opiate addiction, and she used lamotrigine to treat migraine headaches. Toxicology results detected a sedating antihistamine, diphenhydramine, lamotrigine, and tetrahydrocannabinol in the pilot, however, their effects on her performance at the time of the accident could not be determined. The pilot's husband reported that his wife had been displaying abnormal behavior about 3 to 4 weeks before the accident. In a phone conversation with her husband the night before the accident, the pilot expressed concern about men in black helicopters watching her, and, in a message left on his voicemail the day of the accident, her husband stated that she seemed to be "acting paranoid," stating she was going to take the airplane flying to get away from "them." The source of the pilot's psychosis could not be determined during the investigation. The pilot's acute psychosis with paranoid thoughts likely impaired her decision-making and judgment and contributed to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.