BEECHCRAFT KING AIR B200, LEOMINSTER, MASS., APRIL 4, 2003–The NTSB determined that the pilot’s low-altitude maneuver with an excessive bank angle and his failure to maintain airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and subsequent crash into a building, caused the loss of King Air N257CG. A factor was the pilot’s impairment from prescription medications; he had morphine, the antidepressants desipramine and imipramine and the anticonvulsant carbamazepine in his system, which have detrimental effects on cognitive functions.
According to the pilot’s medical records, he suffered from a severe neurological disorder, possibly a seizure disorder, which caused frequent, unpredictable episodes of debilitating pain. Additionally, three months before the accident he was diagnosed with viral meningitis and a severe skin infection with multiple abscesses on his arm; he refused treatment for the latter. The pilot had been prescribed the antidepressant and anticonvulsant drugs, yet on his last medical application a year before the crash, he said he currently did not use any medication. He also replied “no” to item 18.1 “Neurological disorders: epilepsy, seizures, stroke, paralysis, etc.,” and “no” to item 19 “Visits to health professional within last three years.”
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