Cessna 152 N89059

Summary

On 8 February 2013 at about 16:30 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N89059, operated by Arizona Aero-Tech, was involved in an accident near Tucson, Arizona, 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

8 February 2013 at 16:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Ryan Field (RYN)

Coordinates

32.1233, -111.1981

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N89059

Category

Airplane

Year built

1979

Engines

1

Operator

Arizona Aero-Tech

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tucson → Tucson

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR13FA118

1 person died.

The pilot's incapacitation due to his preexisting cardiac disease, which resulted in his degraded or complete loss of ability to control the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot rented the airplane from the fixed-base operator (FBO) to fly to an airport about 11 miles away to practice takeoff and landings. He spoke briefly with two people in the FBO office and then went out to the airplane to preflight it and have it fueled. Review of the departure airport air traffic control tower (ATCT) communications and air traffic control radar tracking data did not reveal any abnormalities with the departure or flight. About 7 minutes after departure, the pilot contacted the ATCT at his destination airport and advised the controller that he was planning to do three touch-and-go maneuvers. Per instructions from the controller, the pilot entered a right downwind for his assigned landing runway. When the airplane was near a location consistent with it being established on the base leg, several motorists observed it in a steep nose-down attitude and descending rapidly. The airplane impacted flat terrain about 1.5 miles from the airport. Neither of the two ATCT controllers observed the descent or impact. Examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded continued engine operation or flight. The pilot had obtained his first Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical certificate about 10 years before the accident, received annual recertification, and his most recent medical certificate was issued about 13 months before the accident. Review of the pilot's FAA medical records indicated that, for the intervening 9 years, the pilot was being treated for multiple cardiac issues and was subject to repetitive specialized medical testing. Further review indicated that the pilot had slow, essentially asymptomatic, progression of at least two components of his cardiac disease that are both independently associated with a significantly increased risk of sudden cardiac death as a result of a sudden arrhythmia. Although autopsy results indicated that the cause of death was blunt trauma, it is likely that a complication of the pilot's cardiac disease caused him to become incapacitated, which resulted in his loss of control of the airplane and the subsequent crash. The 0707 code found on the transponder was likely an artifact of the pilot's attempt to switch to the 7700 emergency code to indicate a problem to the controllers, but neither the timing nor the underlying reason for that action could be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.