Cessna 172M N61954

Summary

On 22 July 2013 at about 22:30 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N61954, operated by JLS Aviation, LLC, was involved in an accident near Fredericksburg, Virginia, 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

22 July 2013 at 22:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Shannon Airport (EZF)

Coordinates

38.2661, -77.4478

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N61954

Category

Airplane

Year built

1975

Engines

1

Operator

JLS Aviation, LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fredericksburg → Fredericksburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13FA330

1 person died.

The pilot's intentional descent into the ground to commit suicide.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

About 30 minutes before the flight, the pilot reserved the airplane to complete "pattern work." The pilot's fiancée arrived at the airport as the pilot was walking toward the airplane, and, following a brief altercation, the pilot boarded the airplane and took off. About that time, sheriff's deputies arrived at the airport because they had been notified by the pilot's fiancée that she believed the pilot intended to commit suicide. The deputies, fiancée, and flight instructor subsequently observed the airplane maneuver erratically before climbing to an altitude of about 3,000 feet. The airplane then pitched down into a near-vertical descent. The witnesses reported hearing the engine increase to "full" power. The airplane impacted the ground at high speed and then burst into flames. Although the wreckage was significantly fragmented and fire-damaged, no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation were observed. The pilot had been diagnosed with "severe recurrent major depression" about 7 weeks before the accident and was subsequently prescribed an antidepressant and advised to seek counseling. The medical examiner determined that the manner of death was "suicide." Postmortem toxicological testing of the pilot's remains revealed the presence of ethanol; however, the investigation was unable to determine if preflight ethanol ingestion played a role in pilot's decision-making.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.