CEN24FA045

Both pilots’ failure to maintain adequate airspeed during departure from the airport, which led to the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack, entering an aerodynamic stall, and impacting terrain.

The pilot had planned to fly with a flight instructor on the day of the accident for additional flight experience in the airplane he recently purchased. They flew to the airport where the accident occurred and conducted several takeoffs and landings. During a departure climb from the airport after one of these landings, the airplane slowed and stalled. The airplane descended and impacted a flat, fallow cornfield. Postaccident examination of the airplane along with recorded data revealed no evidence of mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal airplane operation. The recorded data showed that the airplane was near stall speed, and the stall warning had eight activations over a 1-minute period before the airplane descended into terrain. It is unknown whether the pilot, flight instructor, or both were manipulating the airplane’s flight controls leading up to the accident and the reason for the duration of stall warnings over the 1-minute period is unknown. There was no deployment of the airframe parachute. Toxicology results indicate that the pilot had potentially used one or more cannabis products. However, the precise timing of his last cannabis use and whether it was causing significant impairing effects at the time of the accident could not be determined.

FAA airman records showed that the pilot was issued a Notice of Disapproval of Application for a private pilot certificate with a single-engine land rating after he failed the practical portion of the examination on October 31, 2023. On November 2, 2023, on his second attempt, the student pilot passed the examination using a Cirrus SR20.The pilot’s reported flight times at the time of the examination included a total flight time of 81.4 hours, 72 hours of instruction received, and 9.4 hours of solo flight. No pilot logbooks were received from the pilot’s estate. FAA airman records showed that the flight instructor passed an examination for his initial flight instructor certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating on November 3, 2020. A Cirrus SR22T was used for the examination. The pilot’s last certificate/rating application was for the renewal of his flight instructor certificate on December 16, 2022. At that time, the pilot’s reported flight times included a total airplane flight time of 2,266.50 hours, 652.10 hours of airplane instruction received,, 2,050.40 hours in airplane-single engine land, and 137.30 hours of total rotorcraft flight time. No pilot logbooks were received from the flight instructor’s estate. It is unknown whether the pilot, flight instructor, or both were manipulating the airplane’s flight controls during the accident. The airplane’s normal operating range (airspeed indicator green arc) was 74 – 176 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS). The lower limit is the maximum weight stall speed at the most forward center of gravity with wing flaps retracted. Normal procedures on the use of flaps for takeoff call for wing flap settings of 50%. No airplane logbooks were received from the pilot’s estate. Previously made logbook copies were provided by the owner of the aircraft sales and acquisition company. A private forensic pathologist performed the student pilot’s autopsy at the request of the Shelby County Coroner’s Office. According to the pilot’s autopsy report, his cause of death was multiple injuries and his manner of death was accident. The pilot’s postmortem toxicological testing by Axis Forensic Toxicology detected carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (carboxy-delta-9-THC) in heart blood. The pilot’s postmortem toxicological testing by the FAA Forensic Sciences Laboratory detected delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8-THC) in heart blood at 2.1 ng/mL, in urine at 0.6 ng/mL, in brain tissue at 2.2 ng/g, and in lung tissue at 1.1 ng/g. Carboxy-delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (carboxy-delta-8-THC) was detected in heart blood at 87.3 ng/mL, in urine at 538.9 ng/mL, in brain tissue at 62.7 ng/g, and in lung tissue at 82.2 ng/g. Carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (carboxy-delta-9-THC) was detected in heart blood and lung tissue at low levels, and was detected in urine at 4.8 ng/mL. Carboxy-delta-9-THC testing in brain tissue was inconclusive. 11-hydroxy- tetrahydrocannabinol (11-hydroxy-THC) was detected in heart blood, lung tissue, and brain tissue. Testing for 11-hydroxy-THC in urine was inconclusive. Delta-8-THC is a psychoactive cannabinoid chemical and is similar to the primary psychoactive chemical in cannabis, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC). Very little delta-8-THC occurs naturally in the cannabis plant. Delta-8-THC used in consumer products typically is chemically manufactured from cannabidiol (CBD), another chemical in the cannabis plant. Delta-8-THC is available in a variety of over-the-counter products for oral consumption, smoking, and inhalation. Delta-8-THC has psychoactive and intoxicating effects that can impair motor coordination, reaction time, decision making, problem solving, and vigilance. Delta-8-THC products may also contain impurities including delta-9-THC. Carboxy-delta-8-THC is a non-psychoactive metabolite of delta-8-THC. 11-hydroxy-THC is a psychoactive metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol, which may include delta-8-THC or delta-9-THC, (the FAA Forensic Sciences laboratory does not distinguish between delta-8 and delta-9 forms of 11-hydroxy-THC). Carboxy-delta-9-THC is a non-psychoactive metabolite of delta-9-THC. Delta-9-THC, which was not detected in this case, is the primary psychoactive chemical in cannabis. Delta-9-THC may be inhaled or ingested recreationally by users seeking mind-altering effects. It may also be used medicinally, such as to treat illness-associated nausea and appetite loss. Psychoactive effects of delta-9-THC vary depending on the user, dose, and route of administration, and may impair motor coordination, reaction time, decision making, problem solving, and vigilance. As noted above, 11-hydroxy-THC may also be a metabolite of delta-9-THC. Title 14 CFR Part 91.17, Alcohol or drugs, (a) No person may act or attempt to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft — (3) While using any drug that affects the person's faculties in any way contrary to safety. A private forensic pathologist performed the flight instructor’s autopsy at the request of the Shelby County Coroner’s Office. According to the flight instructor’s autopsy report, his cause of death was multiple injuries and his manner of death was accident. On November 22, 2023, at 1646 eastern standard time, a Cirrus SR22T, N17DT, was involved in an accident near Fairland, Indiana. The airplane was destroyed. The flight instructor and private pilot were fatally injured. The airplane was operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 as an instructional flight. The owner of an aircraft sales and acquisition company stated that he provided services for the pilot to purchase the airplane. On November 13, 2023, the purchase transaction was closed while the airplane was at Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU), Greenville, South Carolina. The pilot hired the flight instructor to move the airplane from GMU to Monroe County Airport (BMG), Bloomington, Indiana, on November 19, 2023. The pilot had planned on flying with the flight instructor on November 20, 21, and 22, 2023, to meet insurance requirements and to allow the pilot to be comfortable flying the airplane. Flight track data showed the airplane departed from Monroe County Airport Bloomington, Indiana, at 1605 and flew to Shelbyville Municipal Airport (GEZ) Shelbyville, Indiana (figure 1). Figure 1 – Overhead Flight Track of the Accident Flight About 1634, the airplane arrived near GEZ where several overhead flight tracks were recorded. Figure 2 shows two track segments parallel to and over runway 1 with minimum altitudes near that of the runway elevation, about 800 ft mean sea level (msl). One of the two tracks ends near the accident site. There were no reports received by witnesses who saw the airplane’s takeoffs and landings or any radio transmissions from the airplane at GEZ. Figure 2 – Flight Tracks Near Shelbyville Municipal Airport A witness who was traveling eastbound on I-74 saw a small airplane to her left flying southbound over a field. The witness stated that the airplane was very low and looked stalled or as if it was hovering or hanging. The witness estimated the airplane’s altitude as 200 ft above ground level. As the airplane approached the witness’s position, it took a sharp turn to the left or east. Immediately after turning east, the airplane seemed to lose all control. The left wing dipped, and the airplane was fully sideways; the wings were vertical. The airplane rotated to the right with the wings vertical. The witness thought that the airplane rotated to the left one more time and then leveled out extremely low to the ground. The airplane disappeared behind trees at an estimated altitude of 50-100 ft above ground level. A second or two after disappearing behind the trees, the witness saw a fireball and thick black smoke. The accident site was located in a fallow corn field, which investigators were able to drive on to reach the accident site. The main wreckage