Accidents
NTSB: Skydiving Pilot Involved in Fatal Plunge Had Used Kratom
NTSB report did not conclude that the pilot committed suicide
CASA 212 aircraft operated by North Carolina skydiving company
The pilot-in-command of a CASA 212 that suffered a hard landing and broken right main landing gear was able to touch down safely at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. © NTSB

The NTSB’s final report on a hard-landing accident involving a CASA 212 skydiving airplane on July 29, 2022, noted a “postaccident toxicological finding of mitragynine in the SIC’s liver tissue and urine indicated that he had used a kratom product." The pilot, flying as second-in-command (SIC), died after he fell out of the airplane on the way to Raleigh-Durham International Airport (KRDU) in North Carolina.

According to the NSTB, “Although it is possible that effects of kratom may have contributed to nausea or to some dizziness or perceptual impairment that may have increased his risk of falling, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether effects of the SIC’s kratom use contributed to the accident.”

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