Beechcraft 35-B33 N22CR

Summary

On 25 June 2001 at about 16:54 local time, a Beechcraft 35-B33 registered N22CR, operated by Gerald Paller, was involved in an accident near Lakeside, 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

25 June 2001 at 16:54

Classification

Accident

Location

Lakeside, California, United States

Nearest airport

Gillespie Field (SEE)

Coordinates

32.8383, -116.9089

Aircraft

Beechcraft 35-B33

Registration

N22CR

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Gerald Paller

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

El Cajon → Deer Valley

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX01FA222

1 person died.

Loss of control in flight due to cardiovascular incapacitation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot took off at about 0935 pacific daylight time. At 0945, the pilot had advised the radar controller that he was returning to the departure airport, and he stated that he was not feeling well. A minute later, during a subsequent transmission, the controller asked the pilot if he was feeling any better. The pilot's answer was unintelligible. Thereafter, at 0950, the pilot stated "Tower, get an ambulance to the field." Several eyewitnesses observed the airplane approaching the airport at a low altitude. As the airplane descended it entered a steep left bank and collided into the side of a parked truck. The airplane came to rest about 3.3 nm from the airport. In 1999, the manager of the FAA Aeromedical Certification Division had reviewed the pilot's medical information, which revealed a history of congestive heart failure and other ailments. The FAA determined the pilot was ineligible for issuance of a third-class aviation medical certificate. However upon the pilot's submission of additional medical information, the FAA granted authorization for special issuance of the requested third-class medical certificate. The certificate was subsequently renewed, and at the time of the accident it bore an expiration date of August 31, 2001. In the autopsy report the deputy medical examiner indicated that the "history of severe cardiac dysfunction and the findings of severe arteriosclerosis and myocardial scarring and granulation tissue suggest that the [the pilot's] incapacitation was likely due to an acute cardiac event."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.