NTSB Final Report - W29 (Maryland) - RV12

[mcdewey]

The NTSB produced the final report for an RV-12 that went down with two fatalities on the final approach to W29 (Bay Bridge, MD). I knew the plane, but not the people. There was a burned spot in the field just before the road in front of the runway until the next spring.

https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/R...tID=20160419X41829&AKey=1&RType=HTML&IType=FA

 

[Kenny Phillips]

Looking at the guy's medical stuff, it's no wonder he was flying light sport. While the FAA concludes that he messed up the approach to landing, they didn't appear to consider a medical issue.

 

[weilke]

Looking at the guy's medical stuff, it's no wonder he was flying light sport. While the FAA concludes that he messed up the approach to landing, they didn't appear to consider a medical issue.

If they did, everyone would be out of their minds on how they could make up a claim to a medical cause.

To some extent its just an 'Occams razor' decision. Witnesses saw him stall and crash on final. Not sure why the NTSB should be looking for meteor strikes or medical causes. Yes, he had lots of medical issues, but nothing in his autopsy findings screams 'sudden incapacitation' (I fully recognize that a good number of causes of sudden incapacitation wont leave a trace at autopsy if the time between precipitating event and death is short).

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

they didn't appear to consider a medical issue.

Possibly because taking medication for blood pressure and cholesterol, along with successful heart surgery several years in the past are not likely to be the reason he lost it in a light sport aircraft in strong gusty conditions?

Based on my experience, flying an LSA ain't like flying a big heavy airplane like a Cessna 150 that comes down final like it is on rails.

 

[steingar]

People have been stalling aircraft in the pattern since there's been aircraft and patterns. Why one has to go looking for medical incapacitation beats me. The medical description fits lots of people over 50.

 

[azure]

Of course, we know that NTSB has attributed accidents to medical causes in the not-so-distant past based on VERY scanty evidence. Maybe this case points to a reversal of that trend? One can hope...