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| Date: | Tuesday 6 February 2007 |
| Time: | 15:30 |
| Type: |  Pitts S-1 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N20164 |
| MSN: | 001SB |
| Total airframe hrs: | 713 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming IO-360-B1E |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Marlette Lake near Incline Village, NV -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Carson City Airport, NV (CSN/KCXP) |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On February 6, 2007, about 1530 Pacific standard time, an experimental Brown Pitts S-1 airplane, N20164, collided with the frozen surface of Marlette Lake near Incline Village, Nevada. The pilot, who was also the registered owner of the airplane, was operating it under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The airline transport pilot, the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The pilot departed from Carson Airport, Carson City, Nevada, about 1500 for the local area flight.
The experimental bi-plane collided with the frozen surface of a lake in daytime visual flight rules conditions during a local area flight. The pilot built, maintained, and raced the airplane, in which he had accrued over 700 hours. The commercial air carrier pilot reported 30,000 hours on his last airman medical application. An examination of the wreckage revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation prior to impact. Located within the pilot's flight suit was a broken beer bottle. The pilot's post-mortem chest blood ethanol level was 0.155 percent, and post-mortem urine ethanol level was 0.279 percent. These levels suggest recent ingestion of substantial amounts of alcohol, amounts which would render a non-tolerant individual unconscious or nearly so. The FAA was aware of the pilot's driver's license suspension 10 months prior to the accident, but had not obtained details of the arrest. The arrest record for that suspension detailed that this pilot had been driving a vehicle at a blood alcohol level of more than 0.250. Had the FAA obtained this arrest record, they would have been aware that the pilot met the FAA's definition for substance dependence due to increased tolerance, and he likely would not have been issued a medical certificate without having undergone thorough evaluation and treatment.
Probable Cause: The airplane collided with a frozen lake for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's intentional operation of the airplane while impaired by alcohol and the FAA's failure to obtain additional information about the pilot's self-reported driver's license suspension.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20070214X00186&key=1
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=65271
Location
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Oct-2008 00:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 06-Feb-2012 20:16 | Geno | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, ] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency, ] |
| 04-Dec-2017 18:30 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 24-Jun-2025 14:01 | Captain Adam | Updated [Aircraft type, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Photo, ] |
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