Still More On JFK, Jr.

摘要

I recently read Mr. Marcum's excellent comments concerning the crash of JFK, Jr.'s Piper Saratoga Ⅱ (Unicom, August 2016). As a pilot and flight instructor, and as a clinical laboratory scientist for over 50 years, I'd like to suggest there are additional factors that command consideration. First, with no reported passenger in the right seat, was there an asymmetric load on the aircraft which was initially compensated by the autopilot? Could the pilot have experienced a runaway electronic trim malfunction when resuming manual control of the aircraft? Secondly, could the pilot have been suffering from the combined effects of reduced oxygen availability compounded by hypoglycemia? Considering the flight altitude of 5500 feet at night, perhaps combined with either no evening meal, or a hurried high-carbohydrate snack, a low blood sugar concentration could have affected his responses.