Pilot Likely Used Drug Within Three Hours Of Accident Flight

The NTSB released the probable cause report last week on the February 23, 2006 crash of pilot Glen Harcourt's Cessna 182, that killed him and two passengers near Delta, CO.

According to federal aviation officials, the 40-year old pilot was impaired by marijuana and likely used it within three hours of the crash. Harcourt had "volatile concentrations" of the drug in his system when his plane hit power lines about 10 miles east of Delta.

The passengers in that fatal crash, Tim Hackett and Bolling Willse, were believed to have been Harcourt's employees, reported the NTSB.

With clear skies, visibility of 10 miles, and calm winds at the time of the late-morning crash, the NTSB asserted probable causes of the accident to be the "pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the transmission wire," with contributing factors being "the pilot's impairment from his recent marijuana use."

It was a really stupid thing to do, obviously," said Greg Dahl, a flight instructor for Strand Flying Service at Walker Field Airport in Grand Junction. "You can't push the margins, but that's what he did," he told the Rocky Mountain News.

Harcourt held a commercial pilot certificate with single-engine land, multi-engine land, single-engine sea, and instrument airplane privileges; flight instructor certificate for single-engine land airplane privileges; and a second-class medical certificate showing no waivers or limitations. His logbook showed 1,556.8 total flying hours, of which 1,540.1 were in single-engine airplanes.

Additionally, Harcourt had flown 11.8 hours in the accident plane in the 30 days prior to the accident; flew 18.2 total flying hours within 90 days of the accident, 16.4 hours of which were in the accident plane.

"This news has re-initiated our grief and anger over Tim's death," Hackett's parents said. "No one should lose their life because someone else chooses to be impaired."

Autopsies on Hackett and Willse found no signs of drugs or alcohol in their systems. 

FMI: Read The NTSB Probable Cause Report