The Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The pilot of a medical airplane was disoriented just before the plane crashed in the mountains of southern New Mexico, killing all five people aboard, federal investigators say.
Scattered clouds dotted the night sky when the Southwest Med Evac air ambulance took off from the Sierra Blanca Regional Airport near Ruidoso on Aug. 5, 2007. The pilot, Ricky Byers, made a left turn toward Albuquerque — where he and his crew were taking an ill toddler and her mother — and the plane disappeared.
Minutes later, the Beechcraft King Air E-90B plowed into trees on a hillside and burned. The wreckage, strewn over 1,100 feet, was found the next morning.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a Dec. 28 report that the pilot failed to maintain clearance from the terrain due to spatial disorientation.
“The impact damage to the aircraft, presence of dark night conditions, experience level of the pilot and anomalous flight path are consistent with spatial disorientation,” the report states.
The crash killed Byers, 56, of Ruidoso; flight nurse Brian Miller, 44, of Roswell; paramedic Deanna Palmer, 40, of Prescott, Ariz.; Tracy Smith, 41, of Ruidoso; and her 15-month-old daughter, Lily.
The NTSB report said the pilot had logged 2,775 flight hours, including 439 hours of night flying, and was described by co-workers as cautious, competent and comfortable with the airplane.
The report also said toxicology testing on the pilot detected chlorpheniramine, an over-the-counter antihistamine, and acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. Investigators said they were not able to estimate when the medications were last taken or whether they had impaired the pilot during the flight.
The plane did not have a flight data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder, but the NTSB said analysis of the crash site revealed the debris path indicated a heading away from the destination.
After examining the wreckage, federal investigators determined there was no evidence of any mechanical malfunction before the crash. The plane’s two engines were running when it crashed and the flaps and landing gear were retracted.