Probable cause
The pilot’s incapacitation due to sleeping pills, which led to the airplane impacting terrain in an autopilot-controlled descent following a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
NTSB analysis
The airplane departed and climbed to a cruise altitude of 16,500 feet. The pilot set the autopilot to continue the flight over an area of sparsely populated desert terrain. He stated that he then took sleeping pills in an attempt to take his life. When the fuel was exhausted in the selected tank, the engine lost power. The airplane's autopilot was equipped with an envelope protection feature, which placed the airplane into a controlled descent that was maintained to ground impact. Local law enforcement personnel who responded to the scene of the accident found the airplane relatively intact with the wings, empennage, and engine still attached to the fuselage and the injured pilot seated in the left front seat.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR13LA186 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Apr 10, 2013
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Silver Peak, Nevada
- Highest injury
- Serious
- Serious injuries
- 1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Cirrus Design Corp SR22
- N-number
- N205KT
- Category
- Airplane
- Year built
- 2006
- Damage
- Substantial
- Operating rule
- Part 91 (general aviation)
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
From the NTSB aviation accident database: N-registered aircraft, events since 2008, data through Oct 28, 2026. The file is published monthly, so the latest weeks are incomplete and recent records can change. The official source is the NTSB aviation investigation search. CheckAero is independent and not affiliated with the NTSB.