Piper PA 28-236 N81839

Summary

On 13 January 2017 at about 19:25 local time, a Piper PA 28-236 registered N81839 was involved in an accident near Port Orford, Oregon, 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

13 January 2017 at 19:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Port Orford, Oregon, United States

Coordinates

42.8069, -124.5322

Aircraft

Piper PA 28-236

Registration

N81839

Category

Airplane

Year built

1980

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

North Bend → North Bend

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR17FA052

1 person died.

The pilot's loss of vision during cruise flight, which resulted in a loss of aircraft control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to fly with a known medical condition.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 79-year-old private pilot was making a local personal flight in his airplane when he reported over the aircraft emergency frequency that he was losing vision in one of his eyes. About the same time, a radar target using the emergency transponder squawk code was acquired traveling northbound along the coastline. The airplane wreckage was subsequently located on a beach close to the last radar target. The damage to the airplane was consistent with a high-speed, left wing-low impact due to a loss of control. According to the pilot's son, the pilot had been diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivity and had a history of sudden vision loss, sometimes in just one eye but at other times in both eyes, which had been attributed to his chemical sensitivity. He had not reported the episodes of vision loss or the chemical sensitivity on any of his Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical applications. His most recent FAA medical certificate had expired 5 years before the accident, and it had been 5 years since he had accomplished a flight review. The pilot continued to fly, and his flight instructor, who had given the pilot his last flight review and flew with him 1 year before the accident, reported a significant degradation in the pilot's flying skills.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.