Mitchell CH-801 N235RJ

Summary

On 28 February 2003 at about 19:30 local time, a Mitchell CH-801 registered N235RJ was involved in an accident near Nicholas, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 February 2003 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Nicholas, California, United States

Coordinates

38.9333, -121.6333

Aircraft

Mitchell CH-801

Registration

N235RJ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rio Linda → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX03FA102

2 people died.

an in-flight structural failure due to the pilot exceeding the design limitations of the airplane. Drug impairment was a factor.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane broke apart in flight, and the debris path was 2 miles long. The top surface of the right wing was the first item in the debris path. The next pieces were the vertical and horizontal stabilizers. They were approximately 400 feet away from the right wing, and 50 feet apart from each other. The remainder of the right wing was 800 feet past the stabilizers. The left wing was an additional 300 feet away. The fuselage was near the end of the debris trail. Rivet holes at separation points were elongated and/or deformed. Fracture surfaces were angular and irregularly shaped. The toxicology reports indicated the finding of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the active substance in marijuana) and tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (THC-COOH), an inactive metabolite of marijuana) in the blood of both occupants. The levels of the substances are consistent with the smoking of at least one marijuana cigarette within about 12 hours of death in the case of the pilot, and 2 hours for the passenger. A few studies have shown impairment during the performance of demanding aircraft simulator tasks even 24 hours after smoking marijuana, and it is likely that the pilot was at least somewhat impaired at the time of the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.