Amateur-built VAQUERO N30CY incident near Hebron, Illinois

Probable cause

The pilot’s operation of the airplane with known medical conditions and his subsequent heart attack during the flight.

NTSB analysis

The pilot experienced a medical event in-flight and landed his airplane in a field. The airplane sustained no damage. The pilot's son arrived where the airplane landed and saw the pilot lying back in the airplane’s seat; the pilot did not appear to be breathing. First responders revived and subsequently transported the pilot to a local hospital. The pilot died about two days later and the cause of death was determined to be a myocardial infarction. The pilot had previous heart conditions, including bypass surgery. The pilot last applied for a medical certificate about ten years prior to the incident flight. On the application for his last medical certificate, the pilot indicated his previously reported “heart or vascular trouble” on prior medical applications and his use of Coumadin, an anticoagulant medication. The airplane the pilot was flying required the pilot to have a current medical certificate to operate it. The investigation could not determine the exact extent of and time that the pilot experienced the medical event that he had to be revived from when the airplane landed.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN12IA050 for the full record.