Instructor killed in 2024 plane crash tested positive for drugs on FAA’s ‘do not fly’ list, report finds

The 68-year-old certified flight instructor who was among the three people killed in the January 2024 plane crash near the Greenfield-Leyden town line tested positive for two medications that are listed on the Federal Aviation Administration’s “Do not issue, do not fly” list, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s findings.

An Aircraft Performance Study conducted by the NTSB Office of Research and Engineering suggests that the plane stalled twice before it spiraled to the ground — a determination that aligns with witness accounts. The instructor’s use of “multiple central nervous system depressants” is being considered a contributing factor.

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: The flight instructor’s failure to maintain airplane control during a stall, which resulted in an inadvertent spin from which the airplane was not recovered,” the NTSB stated. “Contributing to the accident were the overall effect of the flight instructor’s use of multiple central nervous system depressants, the associated underlying conditions they treated, or both.”

While the recently released autopsy toxicology report conducted by NTSB Specialist J.E. Tuttle does not name the autopsy subject, Indian Orchard resident William Hampton, it describes his age and position as the certified flight instructor. The report states he tested positive for alprazolam, commonly known by its brand name Xanax, and the sedative amitriptyline.

The report also states that the flight instructor’s medical records show a history of driving under the influence of alcohol and benzodiazepine dependency.

Hampton, along with Fredrika Ballard, 53, of Southwick, and Chad Davidson, 29, of Woodstock, Connecticut, were killed when a Beechcraft 55 Baron Twin-Piston plane crashed in a small clearing in the woods within the Leyden Wildlife Management Area on the town line between Greenfield and Leyden on Jan. 14, 2024. Ballard was the owner of the Fly Lugu Flight School in Westfield. Hampton was a flight instructor for Fly Lugu and Davidson was a student pilot.

“Alprazolam is a potent prescription benzodiazepine medication commonly used to treat generalized anxiety disorders and panic disorders,” the report continues. “Users should be cautioned against engaging in hazardous occupations requiring mental alertness such as operating machinery or driving a motor vehicle. … The FAA considers alprazolam a ‘Do not issue/Do not fly’ medication.”

According to the toxicology report, the flight instructor also tested positive for amitriptyline, commonly known by its brand name Elavil, which is another anti-depressant medication considered by the FAA to be a “Do not issue/Do not fly” drug. Zolpidem, a prescription sleeping aid commonly known by its brand name Ambien, was also found in the instructor’s blood, despite the FAA allowing the drug for pilots “provided they do not use the drug every day and they observe a sufficient waiting period for the drug to be cleared from circulation before flying.”

FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor clarified in a statement that the pilot in command of a flight is responsible for adhering to safety measures and regulations.

“Speaking generally, the pilot in command is responsible for the safety of the flight,” Gregor stated. “The FAA would take action against a pilot who flew with any disqualifying substances in his or her system.”

Davidson, the student pilot, did not test positive for any intoxicating substances.

Engineering report

Witnesses Rodney Martin and Robin Tibbetts reportedly told investigators that they were walking their dog in the woods when “the sound of the airplane’s ‘engine’ caught their attention,” according to a witness statement outlined in the NTSB’s investigation.

“They did not see the airplane. They both stated that the ‘airplane’s engine’ was really loud and ‘clunky.’ It then shut off, before it restarted. When it restarted, it was much quieter,” the witness report states.

Martin and Tibbetts’ witness statement corresponds with the conclusions of an Aircraft Performance Study conducted by the NTSB Office of Research and Engineering, which suggests that the plane stalled twice before spiraling to the ground.

“The results of the study indicate that N7345R performed two stalls in the minute preceding its final spin to the ground,” the report states. “Furthermore, the first of the two stalls indicates that, within a minute of the final stall and spin, the airplane could in fact be stalled and recovered successfully.”

The Aircraft Performance Study also states that the “computed engine power” at the time of the first stall exceeds the power available from one engine, “indicating that both engines must have been operating at the time.”

One witness, Mark Duprey, told the Recorder in 2024 that he was standing in his 60-acre field at the intersection of Leyden Road and Barton Road when he watched the plane descend from the sky in a “corkscrew manner.”

“I thought it was someone fooling around doing acrobatics until it began to nosedive,” Duprey recounted.

While watching the small plane, Duprey said he was surprised at how loud it was. However, when the plane began to fall, he said it went silent before disappearing from sight.

NTSB spokesperson Peter Knudson, in an email on Wednesday, clarified that the organization’s investigation of the plane crash has concluded.

Attempts to reach a representative of the Fly Lugu Flight School for comment have been unsuccessful.

The NTSB’s findings can be viewed at data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=193645.

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