Cessna 150 N7158X

Summary

On 31 October 2019 at about 08:19 local time, a Cessna 150 registered N7158X was involved in an accident near Brawley, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 October 2019 at 08:19

Classification

Accident

Location

Brawley, California, United States

Nearest airport

Brawley Muni (BWC)

Coordinates

32.9881, -115.4692

Aircraft

Cessna 150

Registration

N7158X

Category

Airplane

Year built

1982

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Brawley → Brawley

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

WPR20FA018

2 people died.

The pilot’s decision to perform a flight while impaired by the effects of alcohol and cocaine, and his failure to maintain terrain clearance during the flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The noninstrument-rated pilot departed after midnight in dark night conditions. After takeoff, the airplane maneuvered in the vicinity of the airport for 3 minutes before impacting trees on the bank of a river. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot did not hold a current Federal Aviation Administration medical certificate; his most recent medical certificate was issued 4 years before the accident (at which time he reported no previous flight experience). The pilot’s total and recent flight experience could not be confirmed. Postmortem toxicological testing revealed ethanol in the pilot’s blood, vitreous, and urine. The testing also revealed cocaine, benzoylecgonine (cocaine metabolite), cocaethylene (a substance that forms when cocaine is metabolized in the presence of ethanol), and ecgonine methyl ester (cocaine metabolite) in the pilot’s blood and urine. The levels of ethanol in the pilot’s postmortem blood, vitreous, and urine fit a pattern consistent with ethanol consumption. At the time of the pilot’s death, he had a blood ethanol level more than five times the regulatory limit for conducting a flight, which would be expected to produce marked impairment. Unlike the high measured levels of ethanol, the measured levels of cocaine and its metabolites in the pilot’s blood were low. However, postmortem cocaine levels do not directly predict impairing effects, and the effects of cocaine (a central nervous system stimulant) and ethanol (a central nervous system depressant) are not additive. Accordingly, cocaine’s effects on the pilot at the time of the accident flight and how such effects may have interacted with those of ethanol, are unknown. However, the pilot’s decision to perform the flight on a dark night, after consuming alcohol and cocaine, and his failure to maintain terrain clearance are evidence of impaired judgment and performance consistent with known effects of ethanol and cocaine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.