NTSB: Pilot’s medical clearance had been renewed a month before crash landing

BOSTON (AP) — A woman who crash-landed her 79-year-old husband’s plane on Martha’s Vineyard reported that he became incapacitated behind the controls, a month after his Federal Aviation Administration medical certificate had been updated, investigators said Wednesday.

Randolph Bonnist, of Norwalk, Connecticut, previously had to provide extensive medical documentation to continue flying after some sort of health concern, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report.

His wife reported that Bonnist “blacked out” after performing a go-around maneuver while on approach to the airport on the Massachusetts island and she said there were “no mechanical issues whatsoever” with the single-engine airplane, the NTSB said.

The Piper PA46, without its landing gear in position, bounced several times before coming to rest upright on July 15. Bonnist died five days later a Boston hospital. His wife was unhurt.

Bonnist held a third-class medical certificate from the FAA that was issued on June 1, and he was previously granted a special issuance medical certificate that required extra documentation, the NTSB said.

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