Pilot in coast crash was disoriented
Saturday, October 17, 2009 11:52 PM PDT
GEARHART (AP) — The pilot of a small plane that crashed into an Oregon vacation house failed to maintain control because of spatial disorientation, a federal agency said in its report on the tragedy that left five people dead.
Jason Ketcheson, 36, of Cannon Beach also had a low level of the sleep aid zolpidem in his system, but the National Transportation Safety Board couldn’t determine if it impaired him.
The U.S. military allows pilots to fly as soon as six hours after the use of zolpidem, according to the report obtained Thursday by The Daily Astorian newspaper.
The crash occurred in August 2008 on a foggy morning along the north coast while Ketcheson and his passenger, Frank Toohey, 58, were heading from the Seaside airport to a business meeting in Klamath Falls.
Both died in the crash, along with three children from two families staying in a bungalow struck by the rented plane. Van McKenny, chief investigator for the NTSB, told the newspaper spatial disorientation is a common cause of crashes.
‘‘You get a lot of information from your eyes,’’ McKenny said. ‘‘Once you get into the clouds, you lose that information, and you have to interpret your instruments. It’s like sitting in a room without any windows and traveling 100 mph.’’
