Alone in his Cessna 172, weather good, engine running well, the private pilot flew a mostly straight course for an hour. Then he began wandering, curving left and right, pitching up and down. He flew repeated tight circles, again and again, eventually crashing inverted into dense trees, dying on impact. It happened in January last year, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has now released its final report.
It found that the cause of the accident was chemical poisoning. It’s a cautionary tale of maintenance missed.
The 1966 C172 H model, with a 145 hp Continental 0-300-D engine, took off from R. G. LeTourneau Field (KTOC), in Toccoa, Georgia, at about 12:30 in the afternoon. The weather was lovely—clear skies, light winds out of the west, 62 degrees Fahrenheit.…
