N185JF

On June 4, 2006, about 1130 mountain daylight time, a Cessna A185E, N185JF, sustained substantial damage while landing on a highway near Park Valley, Utah. Witnesses reported that the pilot was executing a precautionary landing due to a medical condition. The airplane is registered to the private pilot, and was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country flight under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The pilot and three passengers aboard the airplane were not injured during the accident sequence; however, the pilot later succumbed to his medical condition. Visual meteorological provisions prevailed for the flight that originated from Jackpot, Nevada, about 1100. The pilot's planned destination was Brigham, City, Utah.

The pilot reported to his wife, who was seated in the co-pilot's seat, that he was experiencing heartburn and not feeling well and stated that he was going to land on a nearby state highway (SR 30). The pilot's wife reported that the landing was "smooth" however, shortly after landing the airplane veered off the highway and came to rest in a ditch adjacent to the highway. The passengers reported that the pilot was unresponsive during the landing rollout.

Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel reported that the pilot was unresponsive when they arrived at the scene of the accident. The pilot was transported to Bear River Valley Hospital; however, he did not recover from his medical condition.

A postmortem examination of the pilot was conducted by the State of Utah's Department of Heath (Office of the Medical Examiner), Salt Lake City, Utah on June 5, 2006. According to the postmortem report, the pilot's cause of death was attributed to occlusive coronary artery disease.

A review of FAA airman medical records for the pilot revealed that he was issued a third class medical certificate on April 14, 2005. On the medical application (FAA Form 8500-8) section 18 (Medical History) the pilot marked "no" under the heart or vascular trouble section of the application. The Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) conducting the physical examination indicated that the pilot was "healthy" and reported that his heart and vascular system were normal.