14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, July 22, 2013 in Fredericksburg, VA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 05/08/2014
Aircraft: CESSNA 172M, registration: N61954
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
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.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's intentional descent into the ground to commit suicide.
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On July 22, 2013, about 1830 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172M, N61954, was destroyed when it collided with terrain while maneuvering near Shannon Airport (EZF), Fredericksburg, Virginia. The private pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight. The local personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
The airplane was operated by a flight school located at EZF. A flight instructor who worked for the flight school stated that he had met the event flight pilot about 3 months prior, and had performed a checkout flight with the pilot so that he could rent the flight school's airplanes. The pilot had subsequently flown the school's airplanes several times between the date of the checkout and the event flight.
About 1754 on the day of the flight, the pilot utilized the flight school's internet-based computerized scheduling system to reserve the flight in the airplane, with the stated intention of completing "pattern work." He arrived at the airport shortly thereafter. The flight instructor who had previously flown with the pilot was at the flight school at the time, preparing for an upcoming flight with another student. According to the flight instructor, he and the pilot had a brief conversation about work, their recent flying activities, and the current weather conditions. The flight instructor reported that the pilot seemed to be in good spirits and was not otherwise behaving abnormally. After retrieving the paperwork required to check-out the airplane, and obtaining the keys from where they were normally secured, the pilot said goodbye to the instructor and proceeded to the airplane.
About that time, local law enforcement had been advised by the pilot's fiancée that she believed he intended to commit suicide, based on her previous interactions with him and a note she discovered in her home. The pilot's fiancée arrived at the airport as the pilot was walking to the airplane, and following a brief altercation, the pilot boarded the airplane and took off. Sheriff's deputies then arrived at the airport, and observed the brief flight along with the pilot's fiancée and the flight instructor.
After taking off, the pilot performed a low pass down the runway and then began maneuvering erratically in the vicinity of the airport. The pilot then climbed to an estimated altitude of 3,000 feet before he pitched down and descended in a near-vertical attitude. During the descent, the engine sounded as if it were producing "full" power, and the airplane subsequently impacted the ground about 200 feet northwest of the runway and erupted into flames.
PERSONNEL INFORMATION
The pilot, age 22, held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single engine land. According to records provided by the operator, the pilot had accumulated about 165 total hours of flight experience as of May 2013. The pilot's most recent Federal Aviation Administration first-class medical certificate was issued on February 19, 2011 with the limitation, "must wear corrective lenses."
According to personal medical records, the pilot had been diagnosed with "severe recurrent major depression" about 7 weeks prior to the accident. The pilot was subsequently prescribed an anti-depressant and advised to seek counseling.
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION
The weather conditions reported at EZF at 1835 included, 10 statute miles visibility, scattered clouds at 3,700, 4,400, and 6,000 feet, a temperature of 32 degrees C, a dew point of 23 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 29.77 inches of mercury. The winds were not reported.
WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION
The airplane came to rest inverted and a post-impact fire consumed the fuselage. The engine was embedded approximately 4 feet in the ground. The left and right wings were crushed aft, uniformly along their entire span. Both fuel tanks had ruptured, and the upper wing skins covering the fuel tanks were found approximately 60 feet in front of the fuselage.
Partial control cable continuity was established due to fragmentation of the wreckage and cable cuts made by recovery personnel. The left and right aileron bell crank assemblies were separated from the wings which were impact and fire damaged. The aileron cables remained attached to the bell cranks and were continuous to the forward floor assembly area where they had been cut by first responders. The aileron carry through cable remained continuous from the left to the right aileron bell crank. Elevator control cable continuity was established from the forward bell crank assembly, which was impact separated from the base of the control column, to the aft bell crank assembly; one elevator cable was fractured in tension overload in the forward floor assembly area. Rudder control cable continuity was established from the aft rudder bell crank assembly to the forward floor assembly area where the cables had been cut by first responders. Elevator trim control cable continuity was established from the aft tail cone to the forward drive chain assembly, which was separated from the fire-damaged control wheel. One of the elevator trim cables had been cut by first responders in the forward floor assembly area.
The left and right fuel tanks displayed hydraulic deformation. The fuel selector handle was separated from the fuel selector valve. The fuel selector detent ball created a metal smear witness mark on the top of the fuel selector valve indicating the valve was in the "Both" position at the time of impact.
The engine sustained significant impact-related damage. The top four spark plugs were removed and exhibited normal color and wear. The starter ring gear was bent aft and wrapped around the crankcase, which prevented manual rotation of the crankshaft.
The propeller had separated from the crankshaft propeller flange at its mounting points. One propeller blade was fractured and separated from the hub. Both propeller blades exhibited twisting, leading edge damage, and chordwise scratches.
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
An autopsy was performed on the pilot by the Department of Health, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Virginia. The listed cause of death was "blunt force trauma." The manner of death was determined to be suicide.
The FAA's Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, performed toxicological testing on the pilot. The testing detected the presence of ethanol in the muscle and liver samples submitted in concentrations of 67 and 31 milligrams per deciliter, respectively. The testing also detected an unquantified amount of Citalopram and Di-N-desmethylcitalopram in the liver and muscle samples submitted.
http://registry.faa.gov/N61954
NTSB Identification: ERA13FA330
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, July 22, 2013 in Fredericksburg, VA
Aircraft: CESSNA 172M, registration: N61954
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On July 22, 2013, about 1830 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172M, N61954, was destroyed when it collided with terrain while maneuvering near Shannon Airport (EZF), Fredericksburg, Virginia. The private pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight. The local personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
The accident airplane was operated by a flight school located at EZF. A flight instructor who worked for the flight school stated that he had met the accident pilot about 3 months before the accident, and had performed a checkout flight with the pilot so that he could rent the flight school’s airplanes. The pilot had subsequently flown the school’s airplanes several times between the date of the checkout and the accident flight.
About 1754 on the day of the accident, the accident pilot utilized the flight school’s internet-based computerized scheduling system to reserve a flight in the accident airplane. He arrived at the airport shortly thereafter. The flight instructor who had previously flown with the accident pilot was at the flight school at the time, preparing for an upcoming flight with another student. According to the flight instructor, he and the pilot had a brief conversation about work, their recent flying activities, and the current weather conditions. The flight instructor reported that the pilot seemed to be in good spirits and was not otherwise behaving abnormally. After retrieving the paperwork required to dispatch the airplane, along with the keys from where they were normally secured, the pilot said goodbye to the instructor and proceeded to the airplane.
The flight instructor next saw the accident airplane as it performed a low pass down the runway and then began maneuvering erratically in the vicinity of the airport. The airplane then climbed to an estimated altitude of 3,000 feet before it pitched down and descended in a near-vertical attitude. During the descent, the engine sounded as if it were producing “full” power, and the airplane subsequently impacted the ground about 200 feet northwest of the runway.
UPDATE: National Transportation Safety Administration Air Safety Investigator Dennis J. Diaz arrived at Shannon Airport this morning. He discussed his probe into the plane crash on Monday that killed 22-year-old Spotsylvania County resident Edwin G. Hassel.
Anyone who witnessed Monday’s crash is asked to contact the National Transportation Safety Board. People can email their contact information or provide a statement to witness@NTSB.gov.
The plane crashed shortly before 6:30 p.m.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have investigators on scene today as the investigation continues into the circumstances surrounding the crash of the Cessna 172M plane.
The plane was flying in the air near the airport when it made a rapid descent and crashed to the ground, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said. The impact of the crash caused the plane to catch fire.
“State police are looking into suicide as being a factor in the cause of the crash,” Geller said in a statement this morning.
That fits with reports from the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office on Monday. Capt. Jeff Pearce said dispatchers had received a call about a pilot threatening suicide. Deputies were on the scene by the time the plane crashed.
The investigation is continuing today.
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SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. (WTVR) — Virginia State Police are investigating suicide as a factor in a deadly plane crash Monday night in Spotsylvania County.
Police were called to the Shannon Airport just after 6:30 p.m. after a Cessna 172M flying near the airport made a rapid descent and crashed to the ground.
The impact of the crash caused the plane to catch fire. The pilot, 22-year-old Edwin G. Hassel of Fredericksburg, died in the crash.
The smoldering debris and mangled metal in front of two trooper cruisers was all that was left of a small Cessna.
“He was about 2000 feet up and took a nose dive straight into the ground,” said an eyewitness and flight student named “Charlie” who didn’t want to reveal his last name. “I’m just in shock, man.”
[READ MORE: Pilot dies in fiery Spotsylvania plane crash]
State police said Tuesday that suicide may have been a factor in the crash. The FAA and NTSB are also investigating the crash.
BY PAMELA GOULD / THE FREE LANCE-STAR
James Stover was in a Cessna 172 with a student pilot flying back to Shannon Airport shortly before 6:30 p.m Monday when he spotted an identical plane taking off.
He had heard nothing on the radio from the other pilot beforehand, which was odd, he said, since pilots warn of what they’re doing near airports.
Stover, owner of JLS Aviation Flight School, then called out to the pilot over the radio but got no response.
“At that point, I knew something was profoundly wrong,” Stover said.
He took the controls of his Cessna from his student to change course to evade the other plane.
When it looked like the other plane had left the area, Stover let his student land their plane. They were safely on the runway and had turned around their aircraft when the other plane suddenly crashed—apparently intentionally.
Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Capt. Jeff Pearce said dispatchers got calls about someone threatening suicide, shortly before the crash.
Deputies were on scene before it happened and fire and rescue units were en route when the single-engine aircraft with a 40-gallon fuel capacity burst into flames. Wreckage stretched from the hayfield on Slaughter Pen Farm, onto the runway and across to the other side.
Stover said he realized the other plane crashed when he saw the flames off to his right.
Only one person was aboard the four-seat plane that crashed, Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.
She withheld the man’s identity as of press time as police sought to notify his nearest relatives. People on the scene said he had lived in the Fredericksburg area.
A woman witnesses described as the man’s fiancée was at the airport before the crash and for hours afterward speaking to police.
Virginia State Police were heading the investigation into the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Administration were also notified.
RECENT FATALITIES
The last fatal crash near Shannon Airport occurred in September 2012.
Two Stafford County residents, a 48-year-old FBI employee and his 13-year-old son, were killed Sept. 29, 2012, when their single-engine Cessna crashed shortly after takeoff from Shannon. The plane crashed into the River Heights mobile-home park, located just across Tidewater Trail from the airport runway. No one on the ground was injured, and no homes were damaged.
A preliminary report said the plane nosedived “following an in-flight loss of control during initial climb from Shannon Airport.”
The cause of that crash remains unclear. The NTSB has not issued its final report. Those reports can take 12 to 18 months to complete.
According to The Free Lance–Star’s archives, the 2012 accident was the first fatality at Shannon Airport since 2006, when William Mitchell Strother crashed his single-seat plane into an adjacent field. Although there have been several other crashes at the airport since 1990, the next-most-recent fatality was a skydiving accident in 1980.
WITNESSES TO TRAGEDY
Charlie, a Spotsylvania resident and recent graduate of Liberty University who did not want his full name used, arrived at the airport for his evening flight lesson about 6:25 p.m. Monday.
He saw the Cessna flying erratically and, like Stover, immediately knew something was wrong.
He hopes to become a Marine aviator and realized that career could put him face-to-face with death but never expected to see it so soon.
He couldn’t find sufficient words for what he witnessed.
Stover leased the plane that crashed to the pilot. He said the aircraft had recently been overhauled and everything was working properly.
He said it was checked out before the man took it for a flight.
He said the pilot called earlier that evening to reserve the plane for a flight.
The man had gotten his pilot’s license last year and had flown out of Shannon before, Stover said.
“There was nothing abnormal about the checkout or anything prior to that that led us to believe there was anything suspicious,” Stover said.
But Monday evening, witnesses saw that pilot “buzz the runway” and make other erratic moves.
When Stover found himself on an “intersecting course” with the plane, he knew there was trouble.
“That’s when I said something is terribly wrong.”
Within minutes, he’d witnessed the tragedy.
“It’s never good to watch somebody die,” he said.
It was even harder knowing it was someone from within the small community of pilots.
He estimated that only about 20 percent of people who seek to become a pilot succeed.
Why Monday’s tragedy happened, he couldn’t say.
All he knew was “it’s heartbreaking.”
—Editor Betty Hayden Snider contributed to this report.
Story, photos, comments/reaction: http://news.fredericksburg.com
Spotsylvania County firefighters
douse the smoking wreckage of a small plane that crashed at Shannon
Airport Monday evening. At least one person was killed.
Photo Courtesy/Credit: Reza A. Marvashti / Free Lance-Star
Little is left of the plane that crashed at Shannon Airport Monday evening.
PHOTO COURTESY/CREDIT: PAMELA GOULD / THE FREE LANCE-STAR
7:55 p.m. update: The Virginia State Police say a single-engine plane was flying in the air near the airport when it “crash landed” near a runway at Shannon Airport Monday evening.
The plane caught on fire upon impact.
The pilot, the plane’s sole occupant, was killed. His name will be released after his family has been notified.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified of the crash.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
7:30 p.m. update: The wreckage is in a field just south of the runway at Shannon Airport.
Spotsylvania County authorities and fire and rescue crews and Virginia state troopers are on the scene.
State police will be taking the lead in the investigation. A medical examiner has arrived at the scene.
A man was killed in a single-plane crash near Shannon Airport this evening, Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Capt. Jeff Pearce said.
Deputies had responded to the airport after dispatchers received a call about someone threatening suicide, Pearce said.
Deputies saw the plane take off and make a couple of passes before they saw it go straight up and straight down, Pearce said.
The call came in about 6:25 p.m. and the crash happened shortly afterward, Pearce said.
Pearce did not know whether more than one person was on board.
Two Stafford County residents, a 48-year-old FBI employee and his 13-year-old son, were killed Sept. 29, 2012, when their single-engine Cessna crashed shortly after takeoff from Shannon Airport. The plane crashed into the nearby River Heights mobile home park, but no one on the ground was injured, and no homes were damaged.
A preliminary report said the plane nose-dived “following an in-flight loss of control during initial climb from Shannon Airport.” What that loss of control was and what caused it remains unclear. The NTSB has not issued its final report, and those can take 12 to 18 months to complete.
According to The Free Lance–Star’s archives, the 2012 accident was the first fatality at Shannon Airport since 2006, when Mitchell Strother crashed his single-seat plane into an adjacent field. Although there have been several other crashes at the airport since 1990, the next-most-recent fatality was a skydiving accident in 1980.
