Smith Ted Aerostar AEROSTAR 600 N97CC

Summary

On 21 November 1999 at about 18:15 local time, a Smith Ted Aerostar AEROSTAR 600 registered N97CC was involved in an accident near Avalon, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 November 1999 at 18:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Avalon, California, United States

Coordinates

33.3795, -118.4492

Aircraft

Smith Ted Aerostar AEROSTAR 600

Registration

N97CC

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fullerton → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX00LA038

1 person died.

The pilot's in-flight loss of control due to physical incapacitation from sudden cardiac death secondary to an acute myocardial infarction.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot/owner was performing a post maintenance check flight about 20 miles off shore. He was receiving visual flight advisories from a terminal radar approach facility while in level flight about 4,900 feet msl. Subsequently, the airplane started slowing then descending in a right spiral, and radar contact was lost about 1,000 feet msl. The pilot's body was recovered from the ocean. According to the autopsy report, the pilot had experienced sudden cardiac death secondary to an acute myocardial infarction due to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. Tramadol, a painkiller not approved by the FAA for flight, was detected in a drug screen and may have masked the chest pain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.