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NTSB: Flight instructor in fatal Mass. plane crash had ‘do not fly’ meds in system
Three people were killed when a small airplane crashed in Western Massachusetts in 2024.
A flight instructor involved in a Western Massachusetts plane crash that killed all three people onboard in 2024 had medications in his system that appear on the Federal Aviation Administration’s “do not fly” list, according to newly available records.
The twin-engine plane crashed in a remote, wooded area near Leyden on Jan. 14, 2024, killing Fly Lugu Flight School owner Fredrika Ballard, 53, student pilot Chad Davidson, 29, and flight instructor William Hampton, 68. Witnesses later told the National Transportation Safety Board that the plane’s engine sounded “clunky” and that the aircraft “corkscrewed” or “spiraled” as it dove nose-down around 11:25 a.m., shortly after departure.
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In its final report on the crash, the NTSB said the probable cause was Hampton’s “failure to maintain airplane control during a stall, which resulted in an inadvertent spin from which the airplane was not recovered.”
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The agency pointed out that the flight instructor’s toxicological testing revealed several central nervous system depressants, including medications for anxiety and depression. Two of those drugs, the anti-anxiety medication alprazolam (sold under the brand name Xanax) and the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline, are on the FAA’s “do not fly” list.
Hampton’s toxicology report also found zolpidem — a sleep aid sold as Ambien — as well as another antidepressant, citalopram. According to the NTSB, ingesting multiple CNS depressants increases the risk of adverse effects, which might include impaired concentration, slowed reflexes, and increased sedation.
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“The adverse effects of [Hampton’s] substance use, the associated underlying condition, or both likely diminished his capacity to act in a timely and appropriate manner,” the NTSB concluded, “although a more specific determination of the individual contributions of specific medical factors is not possible based on the available evidence.”
Hampton’s FAA medical certification file showed he’d been arrested and convicted multiple times for driving under the influence, including a 2004 case that prompted the FAA to demand he surrender his medical certificate. The FAA initially rebuffed Hampton’s attempts to regain his certificate in 2006, citing his use of medications that treat anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders. However, the agency reversed course months later after learning Hampton “was no longer taking the mental health medications,” according to the NTSB.
Records from the flight instructor’s primary care physician indicated Hampton was being treated in May 2021 for conditions that included “anxiolytic (benzodiazepine) dependence, a generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, high blood pressure, and seasonal allergies,” the agency said. The following month, he was involved in a car crash while “intoxicated by alcohol,” according to the report.
Court records from 2021 show Hampton was charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle and failing to stop or yield. He admitted to sufficient facts — essentially agreeing that prosecutors had enough evidence for a guilty verdict — and a judge continued the negligent driving charge without a finding. Both counts were ultimately dismissed.
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At his last doctor’s appointment in October 2023, Hampton was taking alprazolam, zolpidem, and citalopram, and reported he was drinking alcohol two to three times a week. Hampton’s toxicology report showed no signs of ethanol in his blood at the time of the plane crash.
Davidson, meanwhile, had only the anti-inflammatory naproxen (sold under the brand name Aleve) and the non-sedating antihistamine desloratadine in his system, according to the NTSB.
The agency concluded the small aircraft stalled twice in the minute before it crashed, successfully recovering from the first stall but spinning and plummeting to the ground after the second. Though investigators noted ice on the exterior of the plane, the NTSB said there was no evidence the ice had adversely impacted the aircraft’s stall speed or other aerodynamic characteristics.
The spin “may have resulted from an improper stall recovery technique, possibly involving an excessive or inadvertent rudder input,” the NTSB added.
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