Friday, September 18, 2015

Cessna P206B Super Skylane, N8615Z: Fatal accident occurred September 18, 2015 in Spring Hill, Florida

Gary Cohen


The National Transportation Safety Board traveled to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entities:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Tampa, Florida
Textron Aviation; Wichita, Kansas
Continental Motors Inc; Mobile, Alabama 

Aviation Accident Final Report -  National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

Docket And Docket Items - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms

Aviation Accident Data Summary -  National Transportation Safety Board:  https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

http://registry.faa.gov/N8615Z

NTSB Identification: ERA15FA361
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, September 18, 2015 in Spring Hill, FL
Probable Cause Approval Date: 03/29/2017
Aircraft: CESSNA U206, registration: N8615Z
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.

The commercial pilot departed in his amphibious, single-engine airplane on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan for his home seaplane base. When the pilot arrived near his destination, he cancelled his flight plan with air traffic control (ATC), then circled in the area before requesting another IFR clearance to an airport that was equipped with an instrument approach. ATC cleared the pilot for the approach. A review of radar data indicated that the approach was normal until the airplane passed over the final approach fix; it then went off course and entered a steep descent into a residential neighborhood.

Postaccident examination of the airframe, engine, and data downloaded from the electronic engine monitor revealed no mechanical deficiencies that would have precluded normal operation before impact. The pilot’s logbook revealed that he had been actively training for his flight instructor certificate for instrument airplane and had recent IFR experience. The pilot’s toxicology testing was positive for metabolites of cocaine; however, it could not be determined if he was impaired at the time of the accident. The pilot was also under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for not reporting his past use of illegal drugs and suicidal thoughts. The FAA had conducted two psychological evaluations and a review was in process regarding the status of his medical certificate at the time of the accident. However, the investigation could not determine whether any underlying psychiatric or psychological conditions contributed to the pilot’s behavior at the time of the accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's failure to maintain a stabilized instrument approach, which resulted in a loss of control.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On September 18, 2015, about 0855 eastern daylight time, a Cessna U206E amphibious airplane, N8615Z, collided with terrain near Spring Hill, Florida. The commercial pilot was fatally injured and the airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to Keystone Seaplane, LLC, Odessa, Florida, and operated by the pilot as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the flight, which departed Page Airport (FMY), Fort Myers, Florida, about 0727.

A review of air traffic control communications provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed the pilot's original flight plan was from FMY to the Lake Keystone Seaplane Base (57FL), Odessa, Florida, where the airplane was based. When the pilot arrived near 57FL, he told air traffic control that he had the seaplane base in sight and cancelled his IFR flight plan at 0833. A review of radar data revealed that the airplane then made a series of turns in the vicinity of the seaplane base before the pilot requested an IFR clearance to the Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport (BKV), Brooksville, Florida. The pilot was cleared by air traffic control for the ILS RWY 9 instrument approach into BKV. Radar data revealed that the airplane was established on the approach until reaching the final approach fix, when it descended below the glideslope and radar contact was lost about 1 mile from the airport. There were no distress calls from the pilot. The last recorded radar return indicated the airplane was at an altitude of 625 ft mean sea level (msl) and a ground speed of 68 knots.

A handheld Garmin GPS 796 unit was located in the wreckage. Data downloaded from the unit revealed the airplane departed FMY about 0726:40, proceeded to Keystone Lake, circled the area for several minutes before proceeding to and executing the instrument approach into BKV. The last GPS data point was recorded at 0851:22, about 4 minutes before the accident. At that time, the airplane was on a heading of 081° at 2,121 ft msl and a ground speed of 95 knots.

Several witnesses observed the airplane right before it impacted the ground. One witness stated that he first heard the airplane's engine "cut out." When he looked up, he saw the airplane come out of the clouds and it "started to spiral down" over his house. The airplane then veered to the north before the sound of an impact was heard. A second witness said he heard the airplane approaching and the engine "got extremely loud, almost at full throttle" just before it came into his view. The witness said the airplane was at an "extremely angled," nose-down pitch attitude and was descending at a high speed. He did not see the impact due to trees.

PILOT INFORMATION

The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, single-engine sea, and instrument airplane. His most recent FAA second-class medical certificate was issued on August 11, 2014. A review of the pilot's logbook revealed that as of September 17, 2015, he had accrued a total of 559 flight hours, of which 320.7 hours were in the accident airplane make and model. He also had 55.5 hours of simulated instrument time, and 15.8 hours of actual instrument experience. In the 6 months preceding the accident, the pilot logged 3.0 hours of actual instrument time, of which 1.8 hours were logged two days before the accident while receiving instruction for his instrument flight instructor rating. The instruction included holding procedures and six instrument approaches. He also logged 5.8 hours of simulated instrument time in the 6 months preceding the accident, which included navigation and standard terminal arrival routes.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The accident airplane was a float-equipped Cessna U206E. It was a six-seat, high-wing airplane that was powered by a Continental Motors IO-550F, 300 hp, six-cylinder engine equipped with a three-bladed McCauley propeller. The airplane's last annual inspection was completed on August 12, 2015, at an airframe total time of 2,898 hours. The engine had a total of 301 hours since factory overhaul.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

The weather conditions reported at BKV at 0853, included wind from 030° at 6 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, overcast ceiling 500 ft (variable between 400 and 800 ft), temperature 24° C, dew point 22° C, and an altimeter setting of 29.84 inches of Hg.

WRECKAGE INFORMATION

The airplane came to rest in the backyard of a private residence. All major components of the airplane were accounted for at the site, and there was no postimpact fire. The point of initial impact was a stand of trees that were about 80 ft tall. The airplane then collided with a fence and the ground before coming to rest about 75 ft from the initial impact point. Severed tree limbs, the left elevator, the left elevator tip fairing, a tire, and a propeller blade were scattered along the wreckage path. The main wreckage included the propeller, engine, fuselage, tail section, and both pontoons. Several of the severed tree limbs exhibited flat, 45° cut surfaces with black paint transfer.

Examination of the main wreckage revealed it was twisted, crushed, and partially lying on its right side. Flight control continuity was established for all major flight control surfaces. The flaps were fully retracted and the wheels were extended. The elevator trim tab was in the 10° down position.

The left wing remained attached to the fuselage and sustained impact damage. The fuel tank was breached, and first responders reported fuel draining from the wing upon their arrival at the scene. The right wing also sustained impact damage and had separated from the fuselage at the wing root. First responders reported fuel draining from the right wing's tank; in addition, about 5 gallons of 100LL fuel were drained during the recovery process. The two header tanks appeared to be undamaged. The fuel selector valve was selected to the right tank. The firewall fuel strainer remained attached to the firewall and the bowl was full of fuel. Some fuel was also found in the engine-driven fuel pump and fuel manifold valve. No evidence of water or contamination was observed. According to a fuel provider at FMY, the airplane was topped off with 36.5 gallons of 100LL fuel the day before the accident.

The engine remained partially attached to the airframe by control cables, and the three-bladed propeller had separated from the engine at its hub. The spinner exhibited rotational damage. One blade had separated from the propeller hub and was found in the initial impact crater. The blade was bent forward. The other two blades remained in the hub, which was located about 4-ft from the fuselage. The second and third blades were twisted.

The engine crankcase sustained impact damage to the lower forward area and was leaking oil. The top spark plugs were removed and exhibited normal wear as per the Champion Check-A-Plug chart. The rocker covers were removed and the engine was manually rotated. Compression and valve train continuity was established on all but the No. 6 cylinder. Further examination revealed the push rod and push rod tube for the No. 6 cylinder was impact-damaged.

The left magneto remained attached to the engine; however, the right had separated from its mounting pad and remained attached via the ignition leads. When the engine was rotated, spark was produced to each of the left magneto's ignition leads. An electric drill was used to spin the right magneto, and spark was produced to each ignition lead.

The fuel manifold valve was removed from the engine and disassembled. A small amount of fuel was in the valve and the diaphragm was intact. The fuel screen was absent of debris. Although the No. 1 injector sustained some impact damage, each of the injectors were removed from the engine and found absent of debris. The fuel pump was removed from the engine and fuel was present in the pump. The pump rotated freely when turned and the drive coupling was intact. The throttle body and metering unit were absent of debris and the throttle body moved freely when the throttle arm was moved manually.

The vacuum pump was removed and disassembled. The pump rotated smoothly and the carbon vanes were intact. The interior of the drum was absent of any rotational scoring.

The oil pump remained attached to the engine. The oil pressure relief valve was removed and inspected. The plunger and spring were intact. The valve seat was inspected, and no damage was noted. The oil filter was removed and the filament was removed. It was absent of debris. The oil sump and cooler sustained impact damage.

The propeller governor remained attached to the engine, but sustained impact damage. The control arm was in the full forward position.

Physical examination of the engine revealed there were no discrepancies that would have precluded normal operation prior to impact.

The airplane was equipped with a J.P. Instruments (JPI) EDM-930 engine monitor. The data downloaded from the unit included the accident flight and began at 0713:02 and ended at 0855:13. Eleven engine parameters were recorded every six seconds. These parameters included exhaust gas temperature, cylinder heat temperature, oil pressure and temperature, manifold pressure, outside air temperature, turbocharger inlet temperature, engine rpm, fuel remaining and fuel used, fuel flow, and battery voltage/current. The data was plotted on a graph and reviewed. The recorded engine data did not reveal any anomalies that would indicate abnormal operation of the engine before impact.

MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

An autopsy was conducted on the pilot by the Florida Medical Examiner's Office - District 5, Leesburg, Florida. The cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries.

Toxicology findings from the FAA's Bioaeronautical Research Sciences Laboratory were positive for the following metabolites of cocaine:

Anhydroecgonine Methyl Ester detected in the liver and cavity blood.

Benzoylecgonine and ecgonine methyl ester detected in cavity blood.

The 56-year-old pilot had a history of illegal drug use and suicidal thoughts. At the time of the accident, he was under investigation by the FAA for not reporting this past history on his application for a medical certificate.

As a result of these findings, the NTSB's Chief Medical Officer conducted a postaccident review of the pilot's FAA Medical File and Medical Case Review. According to the NTSB Medical Factual Report, the pilot initially applied for and received an FAA medical certificate and student pilot certificate in 2006. Records in the FAA file indicated that the pilot was pulled over for reckless driving on September 15, 2007, and, after a search of his vehicle, he was arrested and later convicted for possession of 6 grams of marijuana and related paraphernalia. He completed 6 weeks of drug treatment and probation as a result of this conviction, and when the FAA became aware of this event, they reviewed pertinent records pertaining to the conviction. In 2009, the FAA determined that the pilot was eligible for a third-class medical certificate.

On August 11, 2014, the FAA issued the pilot a second-class medical certificate with a limitation for corrective lenses. At that time, he reported the use of testosterone and vitamin B12 on the medical application.

On September 15, 2014, a call was made to the FAA's Hotline regarding the pilot's mental status and behavior, including the fact that the pilot had recently sued his homeowner's association and neighbors over complaints they had made about his flying.

On September 25, 2014, the FAA began its investigation into the allegations and required the pilot to provide information regarding an incident in June 2007, where the pilot had been committed to a psychiatric ward at the request of the police. According to a copy of the police report obtained separately from the FAA medical file, this was the result of an episode where he had been using cocaine, had made comments to friends and family about suicide, and had been shooting guns inside his residence. According to friends and family, he was threatening to commit suicide using the firearm in his hand at the time.

As part of the ongoing FAA investigation to determine the pilot's eligibility for a medical certificate, complete psychiatric and psychological evaluations were requested in February 2015. The reports from these evaluations are contained in his FAA file; in each, the pilot denied the use of any illicit substance and reported only the occasional use of alcohol. No psychiatric or psychological diagnosis was made by either practitioner who examined the pilot. These reports were provided to the FAA in a letter dated April 16, 2015.

On August 10, 2015, the FAA referred all of the medical files on the pilot to the FAA's psychology consultant, requesting an evaluation and determination of the pilot's eligibility for a medical certificate. No final determination had been made at the time of the accident.

Gary Cohen and his fiance Ericka Ciancarelli with his plane at Bartow Municipal Airport (KBOW), Florida.

















NTSB Identification: ERA15FA361 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, September 18, 2015 in Spring Hill, FL
Aircraft: CESSNA U206E, registration: N8615Z
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 September 18, 2015, about 0855 eastern daylight time, N8615Z, a Cessna U206E floated-equipped airplane, was substantially damaged when it collided with terrain near Spring Hill, Florida. The certificated commercial pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to Keystone Seaplane, LLC, Odessa, Florida, and operated by the pilot. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight that departed Page Airport (FMY), Fort Myers, Florida, about 0727.The personal flight conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

A preliminary review of air traffic control communications provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed the pilot's original flight plan was from FMY to the Lake Keystone Seaplane Base (57FL), Odessa, Florida, where the airplane was based. When the pilot arrived at 57FL, he told air traffic control that he had the seaplane base in sight and cancelled his IFR flight plan at 0833. A preliminary review of radar data revealed that the airplane then made a series of turns in the vicinity of the seaplane base before the pilot requested an IFR clearance to the Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport (BKV), Brooksville, Florida. The pilot was cleared by air traffic control for the ILS RWY 9 instrument approach into BKV. Radar data revealed the airplane was established on the approach until reaching the final approach fix, when it descended below the glide-scope and radar contact was lost about a mile from the airport. There were no distress calls from the pilot.

Several witnesses observed the airplane right before it impacted the ground. One witness stated that he first heard the airplane's engine "cut out." When he looked up, he saw the airplane come out of the clouds and it "started to spiral down" over his house. The airplane then veered to the north before the sound of an impact was heard. A second witness said he heard the airplane approaching and the engine "got extremely loud, almost at full throttle" just before it came into his view. The witness said the airplane was at an "extremely angled" nose-down pitch and was at a high rate of speed. He did not see the impact due to trees.

The airplane came to rest in the backyard of a private residence. An on-scene examination of the airplane revealed that all major components of the airplane were accounted for at the site and there was no post-impact fire. The point of initial impact was a stand of trees that were about 80 feet tall. The airplane then collided with a fence and the ground before coming to rest about 75-feet from where it initially struck the trees. Scattered along the wreckage path were severed tree limbs, the left elevator, the left elevator tip fairing, a nose-wheel tire, and a propeller blade. The main wreckage included the propeller, engine, fuselage, tail section and both pontoons. Several of the severed tree limbs exhibited flat, 45-degree fracture surfaces with black paint transfer.

Examination of the main wreckage revealed it was twisted, crushed and partially lying on its right side. Flight control continuity was established for all major flight control surfaces. The flaps were fully retracted and the landing gear was extended. The elevator trim tab was in the 10-degree down position.

The left wing remained attached to the fuselage and sustained impact damage. The fuel tank was breached and first responders reported fuel draining from the wing upon their arrival at the scene. The right wing also sustained impact damage and had separated from the fuselage at the wing root. First responders reported fuel draining from the right wing's tank; however, about 5 gallons of 100LL fuel was drained during the recovery process. The two header tanks appeared to be undamaged. The fuel selector valve was selected to the right tank. The firewall fuel strainer remained attached to the firewall and the bowl was full of fuel. Some fuel was also found in the engine-driven fuel pump and fuel manifold valve. No evidence of water or contamination was observed.

According to a fuel provider at FMY, the pilot had requested the airplane be topped off with fuel and purchased 36.5 gallons of 100LL the day before the accident.

The weather conditions reported at BKV, at 0853, included wind from 030 degrees at 6 knots, visibility 10 miles, overcast ceiling 500 (with it variable between 400 and 800 feet), temperature 24 degrees C, dewpoint 22 degrees C, and a barometric pressure setting of 29.84 inches of Hg.

The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, single-engine sea, and instrument airplane. His last FAA second class medical was issued on August 11, 2014. A review of the pilot's logbook revealed that as of September 17, 2015, he had accrued a total of 559 total flight hours, of which 320.7 hours were in a single-engine seaplane. He also had 55.5 hours of simulated instrument time and 15.8 hours of actual instrument experience. KEYSTONE SEAPLANE LLC: http://registry.faa.gov/N8615Z

NTSB Identification: ERA15FA361 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, September 18, 2015 in Spring Hill, FL
Aircraft: CESSNA U206E, registration: N8615Z
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 September 18, 2015, about 0855 eastern daylight time, N8615Z, a Cessna U206E floated-equipped airplane, was substantially damaged when it collided with terrain near Spring Hill, Florida. The certificated commercial pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to Keystone Seaplane, LLC, Odessa, Florida, and operated by the pilot. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight that departed Page Airport (FMY), Fort Myers, Florida, about 0727.The personal flight conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

A preliminary review of air traffic control communications provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed the pilot's original flight plan was from FMY to the Lake Keystone Seaplane Base (57FL), Odessa, Florida, where the airplane was based. When the pilot arrived at 57FL, he told air traffic control that he had the seaplane base in sight and cancelled his IFR flight plan at 0833. A preliminary review of radar data revealed that the airplane then made a series of turns in the vicinity of the seaplane base before the pilot requested an IFR clearance to the Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport (BKV), Brooksville, Florida. The pilot was cleared by air traffic control for the ILS RWY 9 instrument approach into BKV. Radar data revealed the airplane was established on the approach until reaching the final approach fix, when it descended below the glide-scope and radar contact was lost about a mile from the airport. There were no distress calls from the pilot.

Several witnesses observed the airplane right before it impacted the ground. One witness stated that he first heard the airplane's engine "cut out." When he looked up, he saw the airplane come out of the clouds and it "started to spiral down" over his house. The airplane then veered to the north before the sound of an impact was heard. A second witness said he heard the airplane approaching and the engine "got extremely loud, almost at full throttle" just before it came into his view. The witness said the airplane was at an "extremely angled" nose-down pitch and was at a high rate of speed. He did not see the impact due to trees.

The airplane came to rest in the backyard of a private residence. An on-scene examination of the airplane revealed that all major components of the airplane were accounted for at the site and there was no post-impact fire. The point of initial impact was a stand of trees that were about 80 feet tall. The airplane then collided with a fence and the ground before coming to rest about 75-feet from where it initially struck the trees. Scattered along the wreckage path were severed tree limbs, the left elevator, the left elevator tip fairing, a nose-wheel tire, and a propeller blade. The main wreckage included the propeller, engine, fuselage, tail section and both pontoons. Several of the severed tree limbs exhibited flat, 45-degree fracture surfaces with black paint transfer.

Examination of the main wreckage revealed it was twisted, crushed and partially lying on its right side. Flight control continuity was established for all major flight control surfaces. The flaps were fully retracted and the landing gear was extended. The elevator trim tab was in the 10-degree down position.

The left wing remained attached to the fuselage and sustained impact damage. The fuel tank was breached and first responders reported fuel draining from the wing upon their arrival at the scene. The right wing also sustained impact damage and had separated from the fuselage at the wing root. First responders reported fuel draining from the right wing's tank; however, about 5 gallons of 100LL fuel was drained during the recovery process. The two header tanks appeared to be undamaged. The fuel selector valve was selected to the right tank. The firewall fuel strainer remained attached to the firewall and the bowl was full of fuel. Some fuel was also found in the engine-driven fuel pump and fuel manifold valve. No evidence of water or contamination was observed.

According to a fuel provider at FMY, the pilot had requested the airplane be topped off with fuel and purchased 36.5 gallons of 100LL the day before the accident.

The weather conditions reported at BKV, at 0853, included wind from 030 degrees at 6 knots, visibility 10 miles, overcast ceiling 500 (with it variable between 400 and 800 feet), temperature 24 degrees C, dewpoint 22 degrees C, and a barometric pressure setting of 29.84 inches of Hg.

The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, single-engine sea, and instrument airplane. His last FAA second class medical was issued on August 11, 2014. A review of the pilot's logbook revealed that as of September 17, 2015, he had accrued a total of 559 total flight hours, of which 320.7 hours were in a single-engine seaplane. He also had 55.5 hours of simulated instrument time and 15.8 hours of actual instrument experience.

FAA Flight Standards District Office: FAA Miami FSDO-19 

Any witnesses should email witness@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov


Cessna P206B Super Skylane, N8615Z


Cessna P206B Super Skylane, N8615Z


Gary Cohen
A year before Gary Cohen crashed his Cessna 206 in a Hernando County neighborhood, federal aviation authorities learned he had a history of drug abuse and had been institutionalized for mental illness. 

Yet Cohen was allowed to keep flying and died in the Sept. 18 crash that narrowly missed a Spring Hill man’s house. A medical examiner’s report obtained through a public records request showed Cohen had cocaine in his system, likely taken the day of the crash.

It is not clear why officials with the Federal Aviation Administration failed to seek an emergency revocation of Cohen’s FAA medical certificate, which would have grounded him. FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen declined to comment, saying the agency does not answer questions about pilot medical certificates.

Records obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act show FAA officials were aware in September 2014 that Cohen had twice been institutionalized for suicidal tendencies. An internal FAA memo shows the agency’s Tampa office contacted Dr. Susan Northrup, FAA Southern Region Flight Surgeon, about Cohen’s forced commitment under Florida’s Baker Act in June 2007.

The memo, dated Oct. 17, 2014, quoted Northrup saying if she had legal documentation of the Baker Act action against Cohen, she could initiate an emergency revocation of his medical certificate.

An email chain obtained by the Tribune shows a resident from the Lake Keystone area where Cohen lived and parked his amphibious airplane sent a copy of the Baker Act documentation to the FAA flight surgeon in September.

To get a medical certificate necessary for an airman’s certificate, the applicant must meet certain standards, according to the Code of Federal Regulations. The applicant can have no established medical history or clinical diagnosis for a number of mental disorders, among them personality disorders or psychosis that manifests itself in delusions, hallucinations or grossly bizarre or disorganized behavior.

Substance abuse also is a reason to refuse a medical certificate, the federal regulations say, unless there is “established clinical evidence” that the applicant has recovered, including total abstinence for not less than the two preceding years.

Cohen, who was 56 when he died, was a pharmacist in New York before moving to Florida in 1985. In 1993, he settled in a house on Lake Keystone in the Odessa area of northwest Hillsborough County.

Neighbors describe Cohen as a vigorous if eccentric man who often jogged at a neighborhood park with his two Dobermans, Zeus and Cerberus. In videos he posted on YouTube, Cohen is shown shooting a .50-caliber sniper rifle and wakeboarding on the lake.

On June 9, 2007, the normally tranquil neighborhood around Lake Keystone was disrupted when a Hillsborough County sheriff’s SWAT team surrounded Cohen’s home. Someone had called the sheriff saying they heard gunshots in the house, according to incident reports. Cohen’s girlfriend, Ericka Ciancarelli, told deputies Cohen had “smoked or snorted cocaine” and barricaded himself in a closet with a handgun. According to Ciancarelli’s remarks in the sheriff’s report, Cohen started “talking crazy,” saying things that made her think he wanted to kill himself.

Cohen was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital under the Baker Act. Deputies reported numerous holes in the wall and spent shell casings. Two assault rifles, a .50-caliber sniper caliber rifle and a Glock handgun were confiscated, according to the report.

Cohen’s son, Randy, told deputies at the time his father was depressed over his divorce from Randy’s mother, Robin Cohen.

“He was in a bad place at that time but he was in a very good place at the time of his death,” Randy Cohen said in a recent interview.

Less than a year later, Cohen got a temporary airman’s certificate, allowing him to fly a single-engine airplane. FAA records show Cohen had to reapply for the certificate after failing the practical portion of the test on the first try. The practical test is a flight with an examiner who passes or fails the applicant, said Bergen, the FAA spokeswoman.

Sometime in 2013, Cohen’s flying maneuvers around the lake began to alarm nearby residents. They contacted local and federal officials, claiming Cohen was “buzzing” residents’ homes at low altitudes and taxiing the seaplane back and forth across the lake at high rates of speed.

Adrian Higgins, a Lake Keystone resident and former air traffic controller in the Navy, said Cohen violated a host of accepted aviation regulations and customs, such as failing to clear trees and houses with a proper safety margin. Cohen also failed to maintain safe distances from boaters and skiers when he was taxing, Higgins said.

“I observed him breaking all kinds of rules like that,” Higgins said. “I think he was flying too low even when he wasn’t taking off and landing. I don’t think he was making good decisions about when he would land and take off with the number of boaters and skiers that were on the lake.”

Residents complained to the FAA in December 2013, according to records, but the agency decided no federal aviation regulations were violated.

The next year, Cohen filed a lawsuit against the Lake Keystone Property Owners Association, alleging that association members were persuading his neighbors to make erroneous complaints about his flying. Despite having a clean flying record, the lawsuit said, Cohen drew complaints that he flew too low and took too long to land.

In September 2014, Lake Keystone association members Jim Swain and Mark Eberbach filed a counter-lawsuit against the pilot. The two men restated their complaints about Cohen’s “reckless actions” in the lawsuit, saying his flying habits constituted a “public nuisance” and caused the plaintiffs “anxiety and emotional distress.”

Cohen dropped his lawsuit soon after the counter-suit was filed.

The FAA received another complaint about Cohen’s flying on Aug. 13, 2014. An agency investigator again found no violations.

The reports of Cohen’s drug use and mental issues raise questions about what caused the crash two months ago. He took off that day from Page Airport in Fort Myers at around 7:27 a.m. His flight plan was to fly from Fort Myers to his seaplane base in Odessa. He was supposed to fly from there to Orlando.

When he got to Odessa, however, Cohen made a couple of turns around the seaplane base, and then requested clearance to fly to Brooksville-Tampa Regional Airport, according to an initial accident report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Cohen was cleared by air traffic control for an approach using the airplane’s instruments to the Brooksville airport. Cohen’s certificate included the higher-level instrument rating, needed for flying at night and in certain adverse conditions.

Radar data showed the airplane had established its path to the airport until the final approach, when it started descending below radar contact. Cohen made no distress calls to air traffic controllers, according to the NTSB report.

A witness told NTSB investigators he first heard the plane’s engine “cut out.” When he looked up, the witness saw the plane come out of the clouds and start to “spiral down.”

A second witness said the plane’s engine “got extremely loud, almost at full throttle” just before it came into view. The plane was at an “extremely angled,” nose-down pitch and was traveling at a high rate of speed, the witness said.

The plane crashed into a stand of trees 80 feet tall, the NTSB said. There was no post-impact fire. The airplane’s flaps, which are extended when landing, were instead retracted. The landing gear, however, was extended to land.

Randy Cohen said he is sure his father did not intend to kill himself by crashing the plane. The personal problems that led to Cohen’s involuntary commitment in 2007 had lifted, he said.

“He had gotten over that part of his life,” Randy Cohen said. “He was actually in a very good place. He was building a business, fixing up his house. He had found a new passion in flying.”

The son, who is a firefighter and fire inspector in Colorado, said his dad proved he had his wits about him that day by his choice of a crash site. The plane came to rest in a large backyard that was bordered on three sides by trees. The yard is surrounded by a densely populated residential neighborhood.

“He tried to put that plane in someone’s open backyard,” Cohen said. “There are no trees in this person’s backyard. As a pilot that is where you are trying to put the plane down to limit the loss of life.”

The NTSB is conducting an investigation into the cause of the crash. An agency spokesman said the results will be released sometime next year.

Story and comments:  http://www.tbo.com



Gary Cohen

Gary Cohen and his fiance Ericka Ciancarelli with his plane at Bartow Municipal Airport (KBOW), Florida.

Gary Cohen and his fiance Ericka Ciancarelli




















An Odessa man whose flying habits led to a long-running feud with his lakefront neighbors died Friday morning when his plane crashed into a yard in Spring Hill.

According to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, Gary Cohen, 56, of Odessa, was flying a Cessna 206 amphibious floatplane that crashed just before 9 a.m. in the backyard of a home at 13088 Little Farms Drive in Spring Hill. 

The accident site is west of the Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport and two blocks south of John D. Floyd Elementary School.

No one on the ground was injured, authorities said, but the plane was demolished, with pieces of the aircraft scattered throughout the backyard. Cohen was the only person onboard.

Cohen was traveling from Odessa to Orlando and was in contact with the airport before the crash, sheriff’s officials said. The agency did not release any information about what Cohen and air controllers talked about.

Neighboring homes were temporarily evacuated, but the nearby school was not evacuated and classes were not affected. Crews from Hernando County Fire Rescue used foam to contain the fumes from the fuel.

Kristie Young lives a couple of houses down from where Cohen crashed. Young said she heard the plane’s engine cycling off and on for about 10 seconds before the motor failed.

“I heard it crash, and then me and the neighbors went to see if he was alive,” she said.

The Federal Aviation Administration is examining the wreckage to determine the cause, officials said.

Cohen, a licensed pilot, had feuded for years with neighbors over his use of his plane on and near Lake Keystone. A resident of the neighborhood and former board member of the Lake Keystone Property Owners Association, he filed suit against the association in 2014, saying association members were persuading his neighbors to make erroneous complaints about his flying. Despite having a clean flying record, the lawsuit says, neighbors complained he flew too low, took too long to land and suggested he could crash.

In 2007, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call at Cohen’s home after he snorted cocaine, told his girlfriend he no longer wanted to live and barricaded himself in a closet with a handgun, according to sheriff’s office reports.

Responding deputies found holes in the walls and bullet casings on the ground, the reports stated. Cohen was taken into custody under the Baker Act, which allows authorities to take someone for a mental health evaluation if they are a danger to themselves or others.

Source:  http://www.tbo.com


SPRING HILL — The pilot of a small plane died Friday morning when the aircraft crashed in a residential neighborhood of Spring Hill, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

He was identified as 56-year-old Gary Cohen, who lived in the upscale Lake Keystone neighborhood in Odessa.

The plane, a Cessna 206 Amphibian with pontoons, crashed in the back yard of a home at 13088 Little Farms Drive, north of Spring Hill Drive near the intersection of Coronado Drive and Whitewood Avenue. Neighboring homes were temporarily evacuated, but there were no injuries on the ground.

The crash happened several blocks from J.D. Floyd K-8 School. School district officials reported the school was continuing normal operations.

The Sheriff's Office reported that the plane was en route from Odessa to Orlando when it crashed, but had been in contact with Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport.

Rob Gomez, 47, of 13110 Little Farms Drive, was home when the plane crashed and said it sounded as if the aircraft was having engine trouble.

"Then all of a sudden we heard like the engine was stalling, and then within a few seconds we heard a crash," Gomez said.

He said he ran out to try to look for the pilot, but could not find anyone. He said he saw two seats, both empty — one still inside the plane and one outside.

Cohen, who was executive director of the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy, was involved last year in a nasty dispute with neighbors  in Lake Keystone over the noise of his plane, which was worth between $200,000 and $300,000.

The seaplane, some neighbors said, made the lake its personal runway, buzzing homes and treetops, forcing boats to swerve, shattering the tranquility of this wealthy, waterfront enclave.

The dispute came to a head when Cohen sued his primary adversary, the fiction writer Jim Swain who was also president of the neighborhood's homeowner association. Swain countersued, records show, but the suit was later dismissed.

On Friday, Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said his office received a call at 8:56 a.m. and had deputies and rescue personnel on the scene within three to six minutes.

"We unfortunately found a pretty horrific crash," Nienhuis said. "It's hardly recognizable as an airplane."

He said the pilot was attempting to land at the nearby Hernando airport when the plane crashed.

The sheriff said the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were on their way to Spring Hill to take over the investigation.

Weather "was not an obvious contributor," the sheriff said, adding that it was "miraculous" that there were no injuries on the ground and minimal property damage.

Scott Hechler, Hernando's public safety director, said there was no fire in connection with the crash, but that fuel had spilled. Firefighters used foam to make sure the fuel did not ignite.

Source:  http://www.tampabay.com


Feud over seaplane makes waves far beyond Lake Keystone
March 30, 2014 

ODESSA — The seaplane is so loud, the author said, it scared his wife's horses.

It rattled the orthodontist's new hurricane-resistant windows. It woke the plastic surgeon on a Sunday, just after he returned from vacation in India.

For months, a feud has raged on Lake Keystone. The seaplane, some say, makes the lake its personal runway, buzzing homes and treetops, forcing boats to swerve, shattering the tranquility of this wealthy, waterfront enclave.

Nine government agencies and two Hillsborough County commissioners have been involved. None has come to the aid of complaining neighbors.

The plane's owner has flight logs and global positioning system records he says refute complaints. He's the victim, he says, of the homeowners association president, who he asserts has lorded over Lake Keystone for years.

Last week, this characteristically Floridian feud took an inevitable turn: the plane owner sued. But there's more at stake than legal damages or a man's recreational aviation habits. Life on Lake Keystone may never be the same.

• • •

In 1990, Jim and Laura Swain moved onto Keystone, a roughly 430-acre lake in northwestern Hillsborough. Jim, a mystery author, is the longtime president of the Lake Keystone Property Owners Association.

The Swains have made fighting nearby development an avocation. Over the years, they have protested or demanded input on a proposed housing development, expanded roads, the design of a new strip mall, a new carwash and a new elementary school.

Neighbors credit them with preserving the rural charm of Keystone, where empty lots sell for seven figures.

"People trust him to be our eyes and ears," said Dr. Mark Eberbach.

"They wield a lot of power up here," said Jim Griffin.

Late last year, neighbors started calling Jim Swain, 57, about the seaplane. Besides noise, some worried about safety. What if it crashed? What if it hit a boat or a swimmer? Would it scare away the eagles?

• • •

Gary Cohen sat recently in an airport hangar, in designer jeans and a monogrammed shirt, explaining why complaints made by Swain and others are absurd.

"He thinks it's Lake Swain," Cohen said, "and he's acted that way for years."

Parked behind Cohen was his six-seat, white-and-blue 1971 Cessna 206 Amphibian. Cohen, executive director of the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy, declined to say how much he paid for it last year. The plane is worth between $200,000 and $300,000, he said.

Cohen, 54, moved to Keystone in 1993 and raised three children there with his then-wife. He's now engaged to Ericka Ciancarelli, 36, who's learning to fly.

A conversation with Cohen is an exercise in the art of polite interruption. He speaks quickly and at length, with a thick Brooklyn accent. He had prepared a white three-ring binder with 75 pages of evidence: FAA regulations, emails with Tampa Port Authority officials and a propeller manufacturer, and copies of his flight logs.

He read aloud emails complaining about him, listing what he calls inaccuracies. In one, Swain alleged Cohen took off 14 times on a Saturday, starting at 7:30 a.m. Cohen took off four times that day, he says his logs show, starting at 11:11 a.m. He was giving rides to neighbors.

A boat has never had to swerve to avoid his plane, Cohen said, and he does not buzz homes or tree tops. He pulled up GPS logs tracking his plane's elevation. Typically, as he clears the lake's edge, he's between 250 and 400 feet up, or at least 100 feet above trees, they show.

"He's a fiction writer. He lives in a fiction world," he said of Swain. "This stuff is somewhere between Harry Potter and Star Trek."

• • •

Swain and others have contacted the following about the plane: the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Tampa Port Authority, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and offices of County Commissioners Ken Hagan and Sandy Murman.

The FAA investigated and found nothing wrong. The DOT said it couldn't do anything, but county government could.

County Attorney Chip Fletcher disagreed. Florida Statute 330.36 (2) says a "municipality" can regulate seaplanes. A county is not a municipality, he said.

Swain turned to the Port Authority, which owns the land under the lake. A port official gave the same answer: The port is not a municipality.

Word reached the national Seaplane Pilots Association in Lakeland. Executive Director Steve McCaughey routinely deals with complaints about seaplane noise and safety, when he's not on the road lobbying.

Safety concerns are overblown, McCaughey said. Florida, home to about 650 seaplane owners, is among the most seaplane-friendly states in the country. Statistically speaking, he said, boats are more dangerous. There were 662 boat accidents and 50 fatalities in Florida in 2012, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The FAA does not keep statistics for seaplane accidents, but a review of newspaper articles from 2012 shows three seaplane accidents in Florida, none fatal.

A colleague of McCaughey's flew with Cohen in December, when the complaints started.

"I can absolutely assure you this pilot's not doing anything wrong," said McCaughey.

He acknowledged his bias.

"I try to be as objective as possible in these situations," he said. "I don't want my operators making headline news. I don't want them being bad neighbors."

• • •

In the past month, another complaining neighbor has taken the lead: Richard "Skip" Hirsch, 66, a retired orthodontist. Hirsch measured the plane at 95 decibels using an app on his smartphone, he said, putting it between a passing motorcycle (90 db) and a pneumatic drill (100 db).

"When the yard people come to do the yard, until they're right up near the house, I can't hear the mowers," said Eileen, Hirsch's wife. "This plane, I can hear it when it's out on the lake."

On March 6, Hirsch emailed a port official who, months earlier, told Cohen the port had no problem with his seaplane.

"You and the Port Authority have forever changed the status quo of our lake," Hirsch wrote. "Your two sentences of implied permission have enabled Mr. Cohen to threaten our way of life."

The official — Phil Steadham, environmental affairs director— sent Hirsch's email to a port attorney with this introduction: "This is absolutely preposterous."

• • •

On Jan. 29, Cohen's attorney sent a letter to Swain, advising him to stop "all defamation of Gary Cohen's character and reputation." Cohen has asked Swain to resign as president of the property owner's association.

Swain declined to meet in person with the Tampa Bay Times. In phone interviews, Swain said the situation has been resolved, and he's not resigning.

"I consider this a dead issue," he said.

Cohen doesn't. Friday, he sued, alleging Swain led an "ongoing, personal crusade" against him consisting of "fraudulent reports and complaints."

The conflict has already shaken up the association's board.

As tensions mounted last year, Swain asked longtime treasurer Tom Werner — Cohen's next-door neighbor — to step down until the dispute was resolved.

"He said it would be best for all parties involved," said Werner. He decided to quit.

"Personally, I think the plane is really neat," Werner said.

A few weeks ago, Werner said, he was standing on his dock when Skip Hirsch pulled up in his wakeboat.

"Is that your plane?" he said Hirsch asked.

"No," Werner recalled saying, "It's my neighbor's. What's the problem?"

Hirsch said he wanted to get the plane banned.

"I told him, 'Well, I don't like your boat. Maybe I'll try to get that banned,' " Werner recalled.

Wakeboats create waves that cut into his shoreline. He said Hirsch looked at him, puzzled.

"He said 'Are you kidding me?' " Werner recalled. "He thought I was being ridiculous."

Source:   http://www.tampabay.com

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