May Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

May, Idaho 83256
Saturday, June 19, 2010 11:03 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While approaching his destination airport, the pilot made a left turn to circle over an adjacent town. He then reduced his angle of bank, but continued in a left turn so as to overfly and evaluate the surface condition of the dirt/turf airstrip where he planned to land. At the time that he ultimately rolled wings-level to parallel the runway, he had been in a left turn for approximately four minutes. About 20 seconds after the pilot rolled out of the turn, the airplane rolled to the left and descended into the terrain. A forensic toxicology examination determined that the pilot's blood contained levels of an over-the-counter sedating antihistamine that would be expected to result in impairment, and it is likely that the pilot lost control of his airplane due to spatial disorientation exacerbated by the effects of the antihistamine. A postaccident examination of the airplane's flight control system and primary structure performed by a Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector did not reveal any evidence of a malfunction or anomaly that would have contributed to the rapid roll and descent into the terrain.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during maneuvering flight due to spatial disorientation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's ingestion of an impairing level of over-the-counter medication.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/19/2010
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1103
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City May
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83256
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 443637N
Event Location Longitude 1135341W
Event Location Airport May Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 0U8
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 5250
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 28150
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 25 2011 8:31PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N559B
NTSB Number WPR10LA299
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name OLIVER
Aircraft Model VANS RV-9A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 91675
Certified Max Gross Weight 1750
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats 1
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Jan 2 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 118
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name OLIVER ROBERT K
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City ONTARIO
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97914-3611
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name OLIVER ROBERT K
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City ONTARIO
Operator State OR
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 97914-3611
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code LLJ
Departure City Challis
Departure State ID
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1045
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 0U8
Destination City May
Destination State ID
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 25 2011 8:21PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --