Bishop BAKENG DUCE N91BK

Summary

On 22 October 2006 at about 22:45 local time, a Bishop BAKENG DUCE registered N91BK was involved in an accident near South Boston, Virginia, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 October 2006 at 22:45

Classification

Accident

Location

South Boston, Virginia, United States

Coordinates

36.6667, -79.1667

Aircraft

Bishop BAKENG DUCE

Registration

N91BK

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ridgeway → Reidsville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

NYC07LA011

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during a go-around, which resulted in an inadvertent stall. Contributing was the deteriorating weather and diminishing light conditions, the pilot's decision to take off despite the weather advisory, and the pilot's use of a painkiller and an antihistamine.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After being notified in an abbreviated weather briefing that a visual flight rules (VFR) flight was not advised, the non-instrument-rated private pilot took off in VFR conditions, and encountered deteriorating weather and diminishing light en route. The destination was to the south, but the pilot flew to the east for unknown reasons. At some point, the pilot felt he needed to land, and attempted to do so in an ultralight field. When he was unable to land, he attempted a go-around, during which, the airplane stalled and then impacted trees and terrain. Postmortem toxicology results were consistent with a relatively recent use of two prescription antidepressants, a prescription narcotic painkiller, also used for cough suppression, and an over-the-counter antihistamine commonly used for allergy symptoms and as a sleep aid. It is likely that the pilot was at least somewhat impaired by the painkiller and the antihistamine. There was no evidence that the FAA was aware of the pilot's use of medications.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.