ARCANUM — Autopsies performed on two young men in a fatal 2016 aircraft accident near Arcanum, Ohio, shows the two had drugs and alcohol in their systems when the plane crashed.
Clayton Heins, 20, of Arcanum, was the pilot of the yellow Piper Cub single engine aircraft. On board was passenger Jacob Turner, 19, of Greenville. Both were killed when the aircraft crashed in a field near Dull Road Sept. 14, 2016.
The toxicology reports from the postmortem examinations, dated October 28, 2016, and performed by Forensic Pathologist Lee D. Lehman of the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, states cocaine, alcohol and alprazolam (Xanax) were detected in the blood of both victims.
The report lists the cause of death for both as “multiple trauma.”
The National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) initial report on the accident states:
“On September 14, 2016, about 0915 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-11 airplane, N4910M, impacted terrain while maneuvering near Arcanum, Ohio. The student pilot and passenger were fatally injured and the airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Day visual meteorological conditions existed at the time of the accident. The local flight departed without a flight plan from a private grass strip about 0800.”
Investigators believe Turner was filming the flight when the plane crashed.
“According to onboard video posted by the passenger to his Facebook page, the airplane was maneuvering near the grass strip, with the student pilot in the front seat and the passenger in the rear seat. The airplane subsequently impacted into a cornfield about 300 yards north of the grass strip, which damaged both wings and fuselage. The airplane came to rest about 100 feet from the initial ground impact point,” says the NTSB report.
NTSB has yet to issue its final report on the crash.
Christopher T. O’Neil, chief of NTSB Media Relations, told The Daily Advocate, “The case remains under investigation. Most cases take between 12 and 18 months before a final report is issued.”
