Toxicological Findings in Fatally Injured Pilots of 979 Amateur-Built Aircraft Accidents

Details

• Creators:
  Chaturvedi, A. K. ; Soper, J. W. ; Craft, K. J. ; Hickerson, J. S. ; Rogers, P. B.
• Corporate Creators:
  Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Office of Aerospace Medicine
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Aircraft Crash Victims Air Pilots Air Transportation Crashes Fatalities Toxicology
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FAA/AM-11/21
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Office of Aerospace Medicine
• Abstract:
  "Biological samples collected from fatally injured pilots in aviation accidents involving all types of aircraft, including
  
  amateur-built aircraft, are submitted to the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) for accident investigation.
  
  These samples are analyzed for fire gases, ethanol, and drugs. Trends of amateur-built aircraft accidents and
  
  toxicological findings in the associated pilot fatalities have not been examined. Amateur-built aircraft accidents that
  
  occurred during 1990–2009 were evaluated by retrieving necessary information from the CAMI toxicology
  
  database. Probable cause and factor in the amateur-built aircraft mishaps were obtained from the National
  
  Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB's) aviation accident database. Of 6309 aviation accidents from which CAMI
  
  received postmortem samples, 979 (16%) were related to amateur-built aircraft. The highest number of aviation
  
  mishaps occurred during summer, which was true with amateur-built as well as with all other aircraft. There was a
  
  decreasing trend in accidents of non-amateur-built aircraft, whereas there was an increasing trend in accidents of
  
  amateur-built aircraft. In the 979 accidents (pilots), 392 were positive for ethanol and/or drugs. Ethanol was found
  
  in 29 pilots, drugs in 345, and ethanol plus drugs in 18. For ethanol/drug-related accidents also, a decreasing trend
  
  was observed with non-amateur-built aircraft and an increasing trend with amateur-built aircraft. Of the 392
  
  amateur-built aircraft, 388 (99%) were flying under the general aviation category. In the 392 pilots, 238 (61%)
  
  held private pilot flying certificates and 260 (66%) third-class airman medical certificates. The spectrum of drugs
  
  found in the amateur-built aircraft accident pilot fatalities was consistent with commonly used drugs in the general
  
  population. The percentage of pilots wherein prescription drugs were detected was 26% for amateur-built aircraft,
  
  whereas it was 16% for non-amateur built aircraft and 18% for all aircraft. Ethanol/drug use and medical
  
  condition were determined to be a cause or factor in 42 (11%) of the 385 ethanol/drug-positive amateur-built
  
  aircraft accidents investigated by the NTSB. However, the contributory role of the mechanical malfunction of
  
  home-built aircraft cannot be ruled out in the observed increasing trends in their accidents, with or without
  
  ethanol and/or drugs. The increasing trend of such accidents is of significant concern."
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  Approved task AM-B-11-TOX-202.
• Collection(s):
  FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:d6142bcb6210f3a3211da317a8ae19b5bb53e16becf9ab7ff01490db4ceb9449
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/23689/dot_23689_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 519.06 KB ]