The pilot’s son reported that he saw his father’s Beech A36 initiate a slow taxi for departure from the airport in Fryeburg, Maine, drift right off the taxiway, and then come to rest next to a snow bank. The son found the pilot slumped over the control yoke, and he was subsequently transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The pilot reported no significant medical history on his medical certificate application, and no health issues were identified during his most recent physical examination.
However, the pilot’s wife reported that he had a history of heart disease. An autopsy revealed severe coronary artery atherosclerosis, an enlarged heart, and evidence of hypertensive heart disease, and the autopsy report stated that the cause of death was “severe coronary artery atherosclerosis.”
The NTSB determined the probable cause as the pilot’s incapacitation due to a cardiac event during taxi.
NTSB Identification: ERA14LA084
This January 2014 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.
Many years ago my flight instructor had a new student start with him. That student had a neurological problem. He suffered from bouts of narcolepsy, thus causing him to fall asleep for no apparent reason. This fellow was young and wanted to learn to fly. He was able to drive a car with a valid state license.
My friend the instructor took the student up several times and was worried about soloing this fellow. He then told the student to get a medical with what ever limitations were needed before he would let him fly alone. This is where the medical cert means something for public safety. Any pilot with a big ego and lies to himself and fails to control himself need not be in the air anyway. I never had to fly for a living, but on the other hand I don’t want anyone crashing into my house or killing my friends due to egotistic pilots with health problems.
My Senior AME indicated years ago he had to spend $5K for an FAA required new EKG machine then that directly sent its results to the FAA Oklahoma City Medical Office. No local intervention between the EKG test and its findings possible. He does many First Class physicals because many area aviators are Commercial or ATP rated. it seems clear the deceased pilot must have fudged on his health history to continue flying.
When I first started flying airline in the mid 1950’s, ab EKG wasn’t required. Sometime later, they started requiring one and the AME would look at it and then mail in the cardiogram with whatever else he had to send in. That way, he said, if it didn’t look right he could re-do it. Eventually, like Doug said, you were hooked up directly to Oklahoma City and no chance for a re-do if it didn’t look right. According to the doctor, a lot of things externally can cause a “blip” when taking an EKG. One of our pilots died of a heart attack as he was walking out of the office and had just had an EKG. Stuff happens.
Think what the outcome of this intended flight may have looked like had he got airborne, your medical is not only for your health, but everyone else who breathes below you.
“…..your medical is not only for your health, but everyone else….”
Of course it is, as it was in this case! Sarc! He had a current medical and it was signed off with no restrictions based on: “….no health issues were identified during his most recent physical examination.” Now tell me again how important that FAA medical is especially if its a 3rd class medical.
This pilot could easily have gotten airborne and crashed and did all manner of destruction in the process yet he would still have had a current medical. The latter prevents NOTHING as it clearly did in this case which has been the argument for years for dispensing with 3rd class medicals. This case only serves to prove the point. Your feel good argument is for the most part feel good nonsense. He knew perfectly well what his physical condition was (heart disease) as did his wife but he went ahead and climbed into that airplane with the intention of flying off in it which he most certainly would have done had it not been for his fatal heart attack.
The only thing the medical does with certainty is prevent the pilot from flying during the period devoted to the exam. When’s the last time you saw a statutorily mandatory EKG given on a 3rd class medical exam and had it been done on this pilot’s latest medical would it have detected his coronary disease? I doubt it since EKG’s check the heart’s electrical activity. A stress test? Yes, that would have found his heart disease problem for sure and may have induced cardiac arrest in the process but stress tests are typically done only on request.
So you’re saying that because this guy committed a federal crime and lied on his medical that the medical is useless? Interesting argument. Do you think murder laws are useless because people still commit murder?
But, he had a CURRENT PHYSICAL. If he had been honest when he took the physical exam,he wouldn’t have passed, but he might have died driving down the highway and ended up killing someone.
Richard: You and I still have to self review our health and fitness for flight. The BS about “he had a current physical” is meaningless noise. His physical established he was within the MINIMUM standards for issuance on the date and time it was issued. The validity of that evaluation for this particular pilot was obviously colored by his truthfulness. I expect you and I both know pilots who hid serious disqualifying medical conditions from the AME, and there are ample examples in the NTSB accident db that demonstrate this problem. In this case, the pilot lied on his medical. According to his wife he had a history of heart disease. The FAA post mortem discovered he was a walking time bomb. ” Significant disease was identified in the heart, which was markedly enlarged at a weight of 608 grams (normal for a man of his weight is 345 +/- 40) and had evidence of hypertensive heart disease with the left ventricular wall measured at 2.0 cm
(normal is up to 1.3 cm). In addition, the pilot had severe three-vessel coronary artery
atherosclerosis (up to 90% stenosis), scarring from a remote myocardial infarct of the posterior left
ventricle and a calcific aortic stenosis. The wife reported to the medical examiner that the pilot had
a history of heart disease.”
I wonder why his wife didn’t let his AME know? Surely she should have known that he shouldn’t be flying…….or driving for that matter. I wonder if his son knew? Sometimes we have to realize that we can’t continue what we love because we are a danger to others if we do.
His wife knew of his medical condition. His son might or might not have been aware. Health stuff is often not discussed with ‘the kids’ until it becomes overwhelming. She is the one who told the accident investigators his heart problems were long term, as quoted from the NTSB Factual report. I agree that family involvement is important. It just doesn’t seem to happen in a lot of cases. From what I’ve seen with my own parents and in-laws, it’s easier said than done with driving (none were pilots). Even getting other pilots who know of someone’s health issues to engage in helping a pilot make a good operational decision based on a realistic assessment of health is very, very difficult.
I would think some of these heart problems would have showed up on an EKG….was the EKG necessary on his AME physical exam?
Only if it was a First Class Medical he was getting.
“His physical established he was within the MINIMUM standards for issuance on the date and time it was issued. ”
Exactly. You are blowing up your own argument.
It isn’t worth a hoot ten minutes later. So what’s the point??
That is why an expensive 3rd class medical exam is mostly a waste of the pilot’s time and money and should be done away with.