Student's Night Flight Cut Tragically Short

The NTSB's recent preliminary report on a Purdue Aviation PA-28 now hints that the 20-year-old student committed suicide.

Last month, a Purdue Aviation Piper PA-28 took off from the school's home airport in Lafayette, Indiana for a local night flight. The student first finished some pattern work, completing 4 laps of practice landings before heading northwest to a less populated area. Once in that area, track data shows the student made numerous turns before the system stopped reporting. The crash site was found the next day, and isolated to begin the investigation. After recovering the wreckage and the pilot's remains, the study began. 

Tippecanoe County Coroners ruled that the accident was actually the result of a successful suicide attempt, having examined the deceased for any sign of what could have caused a fatal crash with such clear daytime VFR conditions. At the time of the accident, the lowest ceiling was 8,000 ft AGL and broken, with 10 sm visibility and an 11-knot wind. A temperature spread of 11º C rounded out an otherwise fine night to fly, by all indications, rendering the Coroner's suspicions understandable. Granted, at this time the only data available is the NTSB's preliminary report, which leaves much to be fully determined when the rest of the investigation comes into focus. 

FMI: www.ntsb.gov