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Florida C206 Accident Being Investigated As Possible Suicide — (aero-news.net)

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aero-news.net

Thurs, Aug 30, 2007

Pilot Told Mom He Would “Fly East Until He Could Not Fly Anymore.”

The pilot involved in a weekend Cessna 206 accident is under suspicion of having used his employer’s aircraft to commit suicide.

Daren Ramphal, 25, perished when the aircraft (type shown above) he was flying went down in a field east of Interstate 75 in Sumter County, FL. Ramphal took off from Herlong Airport (HEG) on Jacksonville’s westside early Sunday morning. Wreckage was located later that evening, according to WJXT Channel 4 News.

According to a police report, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office received a call about a possible suicide attempt at HEG apparently from his former girlfriend who said he’d called her about 5:00 am and said he’d been drinking beer and taking some sort of medication.

Officers were told Ramphal had been depressed recently over the breakup of his relationship with this girlfriend and of being of mixed nationality.

When officers arrived at the airport, they located Ramphal’s vehicle just as they heard a plane taking off. When officers discovered the hangar owned by his employer, Skydive Jax, was empty, his parents were contacted.

Ramphal’s mother told officers she had spoken with him about 5:15 that morning and was told he “was going to fill the plane and fly east until he could not fly any more.”

The Federal Aviation Administration was then notified as were the Civil Air Patrol and Coast Guard to monitor for an emergency location transmitter signal.

CAP located the aircraft in a field near state road 50, north of Bushnell with Ramphal’s body about 20 yards from the fuselage.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating

 

To view the National Transportation Safetly Board Accident Report click here

NTSB Identification: ATL07LA119
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, August 26, 2007 in Center Hill, FL
Probable Cause Approval Date: 03/05/2009
Aircraft: CESSNA P206, registration: N904DZ
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

On August 26, 2007, at 1022 eastern daylight time, a Cessna P206, N904DZ, crashed into an open field in Center Hill, Florida. The certificated commercial pilot was killed and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight was operated as a personal flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91, and no flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight originated from the Herlong Airport (HEG), Jacksonville, Florida, on August 26, 2007, at 0524.

According to the Jacksonville, Florida Sumter County Sheriff’s Department, the pilot/employee of Skydive Jacksonville, in Jacksonville, Florida, took a company aircraft before business hours and departed from HEG with intentions to attempt suicide. The pilot’s girlfriend alerted the Sheriff’s Department that the pilot had called her at 0400, as he was depressed over their recent breakup. She told officers he was planning to use a small airplane to attempt suicide. She further stated, he had been drinking and taking medication. According to the Herlong Aviation fixed base operator, the pilot fueled the airplane with 64 gallons of 100LL fuel prior to his departure. Police officers arrived at HEG at 0524 and observed the airplane taking off and departing to the southwest.

According to the Florida Wing, Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) received the first Emergency Location Transmitter (ELT) ping at 1022. The wreckage was located 100 nautical miles southwest of HEG by the CAP at 1530.

The pilot, age 25, held a commercial pilot certificate, with ratings for airplane single-engine land, airplane multiengine land and instrument airplane, issued on February 9, 2007, and a first-class medical certificate issued on April 26, 2007, with no limitations…

An autopsy was performed on the pilot on August 27, 2007, by the Medical Examiner District 5, Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion and Sumter Counties, Leesburg, Florida. The autopsy findings reported the cause of death as blunt force injuries of head, torso and extremities.  Manner of death was undetermined.

Forensic toxicology was performed on specimens from the pilot by the FAA Aeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The toxicology report stated that no Carbon Monoxide or Cyanide were detected in the blood. However, 270 (mg/hg) Ethanol was detected in blood, 315 (mg/hg) Ethanol was detected in Urine, 227 (mg/hg) Ethanol was detected in the Brain, and 250 (mg/hg) Ethanol was detected in the Muscle, 1 (mg/hg) N-Propanol was detected in Urine, 2 (mg/hg) N Butanol was detected in the Muscle, Citalopram, was detected in blood and urine, Di-N-Desmethylcitalopram, was detected in blood and urine, and 0.069 (ug/ml, ug/g) N-Desmethylcitalopram was detected in blood and N-Desmethylcitalopram was present in Urine, finally 0.087 (ug/ml, ug/g) 7-Amino-Clanazepam was detected in blood.