TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - Toxicological findings in fatally injured pilots of 979 amateur-built aircraft accidents
JO  - Aviation, space, and environmental medicine
A1  - Rogers, Paul B.
A1  - Hickerson, Jeffery S.
A1  - Craft, Kristi J.
A1  - Chaturvedi, Arvind K.
A1  - Soper, John W.
SP  - 134
EP  - 141
VL  - 84
IS  - 2
N2  - BACKGROUND: Specimens from aviation accident pilot fatalities are submitted to the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) for toxicological analyses. Trends of fatal amateur-built aircraft accidents and toxicological findings in the associated pilot fatalities have not been examined. METHODS: Fatal amateur-built aircraft accidents that occurred during 1990-2009 were evaluated by retrieving information from the CAMI toxicology database. Probable cause/factor in the amateur-built aircraft mishaps were obtained from the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB's) aviation accident database. RESULTS: Of 6309 fatal aviation accidents from which CAMI received postmortem samples, 979 (16%) were related to amateur-built aircraft. There was a decreasing trend in non-amateur-built aircraft accidents, but an increasing trend in amateur-built aircraft accidents. In the 979 accidents, 392 pilots (40%) were positive for ethanol and/or drugs. In these 392 accidents also, the review showed a decreasing trend with non-amateur-built aircraft and an increasing trend with amateur-built aircraft. Percentages of pilots with prescription drugs were 26% for amateur-built aircraft, 16% for non-amateur-built aircraft, and 18% for all aircraft. Ethanol/drug use and medical condition were determined to be a cause/factor in 42 (11%) of the 385 ethanol/ drug-positive amateur-built aircraft accidents investigated by the NTSB. DISCUSSION: Drugs found in the pilots were consistent with commonly used medications in the general population. The contributory role of 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. Regardless, the increasing trends of such accidents are of significant concern.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0095-6562
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -