Report Cites Marijuana in Vintage Plane's Crash

The pilot of a vintage small aircraft that crashed last summer near Walnut Ridge had enough marijuana in his system to figure as a contributing factor in the crash that killed him and another occupant, according to the final National Transportation Safety Board report.

The probable cause of the crash was the failure of Jason Heard to maintain enough airspeed to avoid a stall, or loss of lift, while piloting the 1946 Piper J3 Cub, the board ruled.

Contributing factors in the crash were that Heard was flying too low to have enough altitude to recover from the stall and his "impairment due to drugs," the report said. The level of marijuana in Heard's system was "consistent with very recent use," the board found.

Heard "lost control of the airplane while maneuvering at low altitude," the report said.

Also killed in the crash was Robert Blakeney, 26, of Hoxie, a student-rated pilot, according to the report. Heard, of Walnut Ridge, was a private pilot who was relatively inexperienced with just 199 hours in the air.

The tail-wheel-equipped, single-engine Cub was a legendary design produced by the thousands because it was easy and inexpensive to maintain and fly. The airplane Heard was piloting was registered to him. He had taken off the afternoon of the crash from his own private airstrip.

Investigators found no witnesses to the crash, but the report said "several people in the area reported observing the vintage airplane flying slowly overhead at low altitude several minutes prior to the accident." A witness working in a field told the board's investigator in charge that the Cub's "airspeed was probably 50 miles per hour maximum and [at an] altitude of 25 to 50 feet. They waved at us and kept on [flying] south." The aircraft crashed in a soybean field near a private agricultural service air strip near Arkansas 91 about 10 miles south of Walnut Ridge.

It had crashed in a nose-down position while in a slight left turn, according to an analysis of the ground scars, the report said.

A post-crash fire consumed much of the aircraft.

A 911 call shortly before 6 p.m. alerted authorities to the crash.

Toxicological testing conducted on the pilot by the Federal Aviation Administration Toxicology Accident Research Laboratory in Oklahoma City detected tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary active substance in marijuana, and tetrahydrocannabinol carboxyic acid, an inactive metabolite of THC, in Heard's blood and lungs, according to the report.

The report found no pre-crash abnormalities to either the engine, the cylinder assemblies or the engine components.

The fuel lever was in the "on" position and control continuity to all flight controls "was established" in an inspection of the aircraft after the crash.

The weather was not a factor in the crash, according to the report.

The nearest weather reporting station - at Jonesboro Municipal Airport, about 20 miles southeast of the crash site - showed conditions that included light winds, 10 miles of visibility, a clear sky and a temperature of 93 degrees.

This article was published 02/06/2007

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