NTSB Factual Report

On September 23, 2013, at 1857 Pacific daylight time, an experimental Miller RV-6A, N67GM, collided with high tension power lines and then impacted terrain, 9 miles west of Williams, California. The pilot was fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was registered to, and operated by, the private pilot under the provision of 14 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight originated at Willows-Glenn Country Airport, Willows, California.

A witness reported seeing the airplane traveling very low and fast heading to the north. The airplane disappeared behind a hill and then he saw black smoke rising from behind the hill. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the scene reported that the lowest wire of a high tension power line that passed over a shallow valley was broken and a fragment of the airplane was hanging from the next higher power line. The main wreckage was located 300 yards north of the power lines, and had been subjected to a post-crash fire.

The pilot, age 63, held a private pilot certificate for airplane single engine land issued December 18, 2004, and a third-class airman medical certificate issued January 22, 2007, with the waiver that the pilot possess glasses for near vision. The pilot's logbook was not located for examination. On the pilot's January 22, 2007, application for his medical certificate, he reported having 1,000 flight hours, and active medical conditions that included high blood pressure and elevated lipids. His medications included metoprolol (a medication used to treat high blood pressure marketed as Toprol), and atorvastatin (a lipid lowering medication marketed as Lipitor).

The experimental category, two-seat, low-wing, fixed tricycle gear airplane, serial number 60149, was manufactured in 2001, by Mr Gary Miller. It was powered by a Lycoming O-320 150-hp engine equipped with a Sensenich fixed pitch propeller. Aircraft records showed that the most recent engine and airframe conditional inspection was performed on July 9, 2013, at 744.8 hours total time.

An autopsy was performed on the pilot on September 23, 2013, by Forensic Medical Group, Inc, as authorized by Colusa County Sheriff's Office. The listed cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries. The FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) performed toxicology on specimens from the pilot with positive results for ethanol, acetaminophen, hydrocodone, dihydrocodeine, hydromorphone, metoprolol in the urine, and metoprolol in muscle. Ethanol is primarily a social drug with a powerful central nervous system depressant, it may also be produced in the body after death by microbial activity. Acetaminophen is an analgesic commonly marketed as Tylenol. Hydrocodone is a controlled substance known to be sedating and typically prescribed to treat severe pain, marketed under various names including Vicodin and Histinex. It carries the warning – "may impair mental and/or physical ability required for the performance of potentially hazardous tasks (e.g., driving, operating heavy machinery). Hydrocodone is broken down by the body into dihydrocodeine and hydromorphone. The blood was unsuitable for analysis of hydrocodone or hydromorphone but no dihydrocodeine was detected in the blood. In addition, tramadol was detected in the liver (0.09 ug/g) and blood but blood levels were below the laboratory's quantitative cut off. Tramadol is an opioid pain medication marketed under the trade name Ultram. It carries the warning - may impair mental and/or physical ability required for the performance of potentially hazardous tasks (e.g., driving, operating heavy machinery).

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's improper decision to fly at a low altitude, which resulted in his failure to maintain clearance from power lines.