UPDATE: 1/14 2021 Pilot (owner operator) identified as Richard Wayne Boehlke a private pilot NOT rated in Citation Jet he was flying. FAA Pilot Database: Ratings Private Pilot Private Pilot - Airplane Single Engine Land Private Pilot - Airplane Single Engine Sea Private Pilot - Airplane Multiengine Land Private Pilot - Airplane Multiengine Sea Private Pilot - Instrument Airplane Private Pilot - Rotorcraft-Helicopter Type Ratings: P/G-111 P/LR-JET Medical Class: 2 Medical Date: 09/2020 Expiration Date: 09/2021 Waiting for more information on the 2nd person on-board. Possibly a CFI. Jb.

Thank you so much for your support and shoutout, Juan. I'm so proud our content helps the industry in the best way possible. Thanks for your analysis too.

Over eight years at Beale flying 'Q' tanks with the 9th ARS I did the chamber a few times. The best one was was when the Sargent running the show said "As the pressure decreases you will feel abdominal pressure.... Officers feel free to pass flatus....enlisted just go ahead and fart."....Capt Mike....... SAT

Juan, just pause it when you want to talk. We'll put up with it. Your input is more valuable than letting the video play through. My thought was hypoxia too but his voice was slurred from initial Center contact at low altitude. Possibly sickness/ medication or alcohol is my guess..

Went through the hyperbolic chamber training at Offutt about 25 years ago. To this day still remember my three symptoms of hypoxia. Never lost color vision. Each pilot is different, need to determine hypoxia effects on you. Great training well worth the time.

Flying out of KTTD all IFR aircraft are required to fly the blue lake 3 departure. The departure (for RWY07) consists of an initial turn to the left to 055 until 1000’ and then another left turn north west to 310 to incept the battleground VOR. his departure was not consistent with standard IFR departures off of TTD. Also the 370 that you see in the data block on the left would be his final altitude for which he filed not the autopilot setting.

The ATC was very professional and thorough. She immediately called for private verification.

Juan thank you for updates. Very sad. Prayers to family and rescuers.

Juan as always we deeply appreciate all your hard work and your information that you provide us about the aviation industry. It's always incredibly sad when there's an accident, but it's very informative to find out how to prevent future accidents and what people should be mindful of when operating aviation aircraft. God bless you, and God bless the family of this pilot.

The pilot (Rest in Peace!) sounded "off" as soon as he first contacted ATC so I don't know if hypoxia could have been the problem. I'm thinking stroke. Strokes sometimes last minutes/hours. Prayers for him and his family.

def fits incapacitation and thats always a tough one to stomach 😭😭 i saw they recovered the 2 remains, as well as the CVR.... what a relief, to know this citation 560 had one!! thats a huge bonus & reassuring to know that it will no doubt shed so much more light on what happened....as always, thank you so much for your great, accurate insight & victor is an absolute beast!!!! what that guy does is amazing... not only a brilliant mind but a hell of an aviator! ✈ 😍👏👌👍

Did the chamber at Shaw in 1990. I still remember the training there and think it was one of the most eye opening training I got. Charles

He was cleared to FL230. You see 370 on the datablock because that was the requested cruise altitude. It's not the altitude dialed into the flight director or autopilot. We don't see what altitude is set within any equipment on the aircraft. The sector controlling the aircraft (ZSE05) has an upper limit of FL230, with ZSE16 controlling the airspace above FL230. The controller only assigns the aircraft to her upper limit, with the next controller issuing the climb to the final altitude. I'm a ZSE controller for over 35 years, now working in the regional office for quality control.

Thankyou Juan. Your content is always articulate with a masterful eloquence of transmission. Your visual presence is reassuring. It is sad that a man of your caliber has the sorrow that accompanies your news releases.

A few years back I was staying at the inlaws close to the Mutton Mtn area.... after a few days of going stir crazy I borrowed on of their dirt bikes to go find an overlook they told me about. About a mile or so before the dirt road ended at the lookout the bike died right next to a rock pile about the size of a small outbuilding. Did the usual fiddling with the fuel selector and plug wire and it eventually fired. Rode to the end, ate a lunch, and on the way back it did the same thing in the same spot. This time I could coast for a ways and it started after another 15 min or so. Place gave me the creeps. Got goosebumps when I heard this happened there.

Juan's ability to -- locate -- investigate -- educate -- the news in the aviation world exceeds expectations every time. A BIG THANK YOU

Working for Cessna at One of the factory owned service center for over 33 years, I would imagine they have people on sight. Horrible news.

There was something already a bit off with the flight from the get go - flying too low, radio management etc. I'm not sure it was only a top of climb issue - the whole flight felt a bit off.

So sad to see that 2021 is starting off with another tragic GA accident. You, Victor and Petter are my go-to guys for anything avation related!

Symptoms of impairment before reaching altitudes where hypoxia are problematic would indicate some other type of medical event.

Great video Juan. Thank you for what you do for the community. One thing... if he had newer avionics installed... He might of had EDM mode which in the citation (on autopilot) and has a cabin altitude high warning and there is no response for around 30 seconds. The plane will automatically bug 15000ft turn left 90Deg start an rapid decent time intercept MMO normally around .737 depending on the model and level off at 15000ft. I’m only typed in the CE-525S but it’s a common system used in the citation models. Love your videos. Always learn something! Thank you. Max

Baron Pilot recently posted up an example his wife experiencing hypoxia during a flight. Giddy, singing, euphoria. Luckily recognized and remedied.

Juan you always state your efforts are a Team effort. Great Work!

Such a powerful video, thank you. When I was a grom a thousand years ago, my dad (a civilian but former Marine aviator) would take me up in a Cessna out of Troutdale. (We vacationed at the Hot Springs Rez). Your channel’s fantastic. Your viewers’ comments here are super insightful. Tragic.

I flew gliders at Black Forest, Colorado where we went to FL300 in the mountain wave off Pikes Peak. Over 600 glider pilots earned their altitude diamonds there with flights to above at least FL280. We kept contact with people in the wave by asking them to report their altitude and climb rate every 500 feet. Told them it was for separation but it was to monitor their voice to see if they were getting into trouble. The second I heard the Cessna pilot's voice, I knew was already hypoxic.

thanks for all you do juan. take good care of yourself, be safe out there!

I watched and listened the VAS aviation transcription, and at some moment i also thought it could be pilot incapacitation.

As a lifetime local, and with one whole hour of rotor instruction out of Troutdale, that flight plan makes sense, on good weather days the wind is commonly out of the east from the Columbia River Gorge. So a quick circle after take off to gain altitude makes sense before crossing the mountains.

Was waiting for this. This was a very odd crash. Imagine how ATC felt knowing it was about to happen.

This sounds like pilot voices I hear every day on the radio. I would not have suspected anything out of the ordinary had I heard his voice.

I was an AME in the US Navy on the USS America during the 6 Day War, I loaded Liquid Oxygen onto the aircraft....................... It was great for hangovers at 17-21 years old

30 year History as a Paramedic retired. This guy sounded like a stroke patient to me with slurred speech, falling forward to the weak side holding the yoke and pulling it to the right causing the right turning spiral.

I'm a truck driver and I take my significant other along sometimes. About 8500 she starts to sound like this. No medical issues had her checked out immediately. The altitude doesn't bother me so I guess everyone is different.

VASAviation does a wonderful job! Love both of your channels!

Back in the late 70s the USAF was offering altitude chamber to civilian commersial pilots. I went through the program at March AFB in Calif. A very good course for anyone flying at altitude. I lasted about 40 seconds at 28,000 feet.

It's always awful to hear that anybody has crashed. I was Marine Corps Aircrew for several years and training taught me a lot about aeromed and all that can go wrong and lead to a crash. Oddly enough, the altitude chamber picture used in your excellent presentation was the one I was trained in. (Marine C-130 Loadmasters used to go through Little Rock AFB for basic loadmaster training) In it I learned what my symptoms are, where I get symptomatic, and how to handle myself and crewmates when hypoxia rears its ugly head. Would be a shame if it were that "simple" of a problem, but I think others are correct that there was likely something else that was supplemental to or precipitous to hypoxia symptoms.

Juan, Thank you for this video. I live in the Portland area and spent 10 years as an A and P. This one is close to home. RIP to all involved.

If hypoxia is anything like carbon monoxide poisoning then I know how insidious it is. Years ago I was on a business trip as a passenger in a colleagues car. A familiar route, probably an hour each way, mostly on highways. On the return trip I suddenly noticed a familiar steel works. I though to myself "we are nearly home" followed by "how the hell did we get here?" the last thing i could remember was merging onto the highway 30 min before. I was feeling very strange so I asked the driver if he was OK - no response, but he was driving perfectly - steady in his lane and speed. I called more loudly and tapped him on the arm. No response. I knocked the car into neutral and gently pulled the handbrake on while nudging the steering towards emergency lane. That broke his trance and he stopped us safely. I don't know whether with hypoxia you recover quickly, but it took at least 30 mins before we could think clearly and I had the worst headache of my life for the rest of the day. It turned out that the exhaust manifold had cracked and the fumes were going into ventilation system.

Sad to hear . thanks for the updates .Flying out of troutdale ,typically we head north or north east .Its a major approach to pdx .so we stay below 2500 until cleared for higher altitude Ifr .

I have a feeling this wasn’t hypoxia, the guy seems off from the start, and most people would not experience harsh symptoms of hypoxia that quickly at 13-14 thousand feet (for reference, the FAA doesn’t even post a useful time of consciousness at the altitude, and at 18000ft they state 20-30 minutes). This seems like it was intoxication or stroke or something

Thanks Juan. As an air traffic controller, I'm looking intently for anything that jumps out to me as perhaps something a controller might have been able to catch in time to perhaps make a difference. The controllers sensed some radio and perhaps navigation difficulties, but nothing that strikes me as sufficiently out of the ordinary as to merit particular concern until it was far too late. With hindsight, the pilot's voice wasn't fast and crisp, but we all hear lots of pilots a day who aren't fast and crisp on the frequency. I agree that he does not seem to have been on autopilot at the end, as no autopilot I know of would do multiple 360-degree turns without very specific and unusual pilot input to do so.

The FAA's aviation physiology course is offered to civil aviation pilots at its Aeronautical Center site in Oklahoma City.

Man, we aren't off to a good start for 2021. Sad, and tragic.

Thanks Juan, we love you

Have done one instrument departure from Troutdale, it was a climbing left turn before heading south, due to high terrain immediately south and east of airport.

Love your channel, great inside explanation into aviation, always willing to learn, sharing knowledge, knowing your own limits. Best Aviation Channel there is! Please don't spoil by too many ads in between. Dennis from Germany

Thanks for another excellent report, Juan. As a contractor I was required to go through the altitude chamber. I went to Brooks until they’d closed it down. As a private pilot learning my hypoxic symptoms was invaluable. One day we were on a test flight with us contractors and Air Force personnel. The guy next to me asked if I felt funny, and I said yes. A little tingly which is one of my symptoms we called the front end to check the pax (pressurization) and we had been at a cabin altitude of 18,000 ft so we all donned on our masks and carried on. Without the training that would have been unsettling. OH you are right about the color wheel. I couldn’t believe one puff of oxygen and the black and white wheel turned to brilliant colors. I think all general aviation pilots should go on a chamber ride. I talked to an FAA rep at Oshkosh about this experience and he said they could go to Oklahoma City and the FAA would give them a chamber ride free. Don’t know if that is still going on. But any of you GA pilots out there should definitely look into it. It is probably the best thing you could do to keep you safe. thanks again for another great video!

Thanks Juan For That Report. That was relatively Close To Where I Live ....With in 60 miles.

I am learning more every video Juan as a non pilot. It is a sad story again, but your incite is much appreciated. Will be interesting to know the fate of this aircraft and preventative measures for the future. Cheers from down under!

His voice isn't entirely slurred at the beginning, it's more slurred making certain sounds, and that sounds like a stroke to me. But from other people who've had strokes, they don't always realise they're having one while still being conscious.

Starting 2021 with two " home runs" so far Mr Juan...Love and learn so much from your channel!! #1...

That the passenger did not seemingly attempt to use the microphone, suggests he/she was incapacitated as well. This also raises a question about supply of supplemental oxygen. The pilot could not have been unaware that about 10 passenger masks would have dropped. That would explain why his climb was briefly stopped at 13,000. Supply valve was off or oxygen not serviced? I read where he had purchased the plane in October when it went through a prebuy inspection and service in Scottsdale and he had not flown it since November. Preflight inspection? Checklist?

I had a lack of oxygen event from a severe bleeding ulcer. Went "out" talking to the paramedic. My 'dream' was in b&w and it was best mood ever. They got some blood to my brain and I came back. I was disappointed as no oxygen to my brain was wonderful. Evidently not recommended, long term hypoxia that is.

I noticed from VASAviations video that he sounded slurred, but he was at 14,000ft. There’s no way you’re gonna suffer from hypoxia after just taking off and teaching that altitude. His speech did get better. It could be a stroke, though.

Sad event JB. Condolences to all involved. Interesting information re: hypoxia. Learning stuff from continuously. Will keep my antenna up for your updates. Shout out to Victor from VAS. 👍🏽 Take care and fly safe. 🖖🏽🤟🏽

WOW...really appreciate this update. Thank you for your expertise and explanations.

You can't evaluate vocal patterns without a baseline. Lot's of people speak slowly or with a drawl. There seems to be a tacit competition to keep it fast and crisp though among some pilots, but that is not universal.

The ATC recording was interesting to say the least, lots of slurring and slowing of speech. Can't wait for the CVR transcript (if this particular Citation carried one). I can totally see Air Safety Institute doing a video on this crash in the future.

Juan, I looked at LiveATC and there was audio from 3RB's clearance readback, taxi, and takeoff on the ground frequency at TTD (tower frequency was having issues around T/O time for 3RB). He sounded older and slower on the radio than most, but not impaired. He did have radio issues just after take off when he was being released to departure frequency.

Thank you, Juan and Victor. I know that area quite well, as I've driven through it a number of times. As you drive on hwy 97 through the reservation, it just looks like another town. It's quite modern, and not reminiscent at all of driving through the Arizona area, where the individual tribes dress and hold as much as possible to the old ways. That's not to say that the Oregon tribes don't honor the old ways. It just doesn't show to us non-native Americans.

The controller's main concern in getting him to respond towards the end is not just his unpredictability and busting his altitude assignment but United climbing up his tailpipe. That was the reason for holding onto and verifying 3RB's 230 altitude restriction and 2240 ends up having to be vectored out of the way.

I remember my first chamber ride! It was at Shaw AFB in SC. Simple arithmetic became very difficult! Coincidentally the EB-66 my grandfather flew in Vietnam is on display at the front gate.

A 777 apparently did a gear up landing on your deck railing and you're more worried about what happened to a Citation someplace else????

My sympathy and condolences to those affected by this tragic loss. It's getting so that I can't stand tuning in to the news anymore, it's all bad....

Thank you Juan. Prayers for families and responders. RIP.

I assume that the "sine wave" variation in groundspeed at the end is an effect of an alternating headwind/tailwind in the descending spiral?

That’s soo sad! Already 2021 there are two accidents already. One is the Boeing 737 500 SLP182 The other is the Cessna citation N3RB

I have a friend whose whole family suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. Two of the kids vomited and they thought it was due to food poisoning. Then, one of the parents got tunnel vision and immediately recalled reading that as a sign of hypoxia and was able to evacuate the family. Thank goodness!

As enlisted air crew member USMC we went through the altitude chamber we tried to play paddy cake

TAKEOFF RUNWAY 7: Climb via heading 055° to 1000', then turn left to 310° or as assigned. TAKEOFF RUNWAY 25: Climb runway heading to 900', then turn right to 320° or assigned. Notes; Rwy 7 requires a minimum climb gradient of 420' per NM to 4000'. Rwy 25 requires a minimum climb of 310' per NM to 2000' Plate effective until 28 Jan, 2021

In another ten to twenty years we'll have smart autopilots that can coordinate an auto-landing with controllers on the ground. It's heartbreaking to be SO CLOSE to technology that could prevent tragedies like this!

Tough deal all around. In multi crew aircraft we are also trained to announce if we are not feeling well... ie: "I am feeling light headed/drowsy" The intent is to trigger a coordinated crew response into finding out if incapacitation is imminent. With single pilot operations, this additional safeguard is unavailable. BTW I listened to the last TX numerous times and it does suggest some slurring... although I doubt I would have picked up on it initially.

This accident sounds very familiar. On October 2016, a Citation 560 with former Premiere Jim Prentice on board did something very similar to what N3RB did. On climb out to assigned altitude from Kelowna, BC (YLW), the aircraft suddenly nose-dived and spiraled into mountainous terrain killing all on board (4 souls if I remember correctly.) Canada's TSB put it down to pilot disorientation, as the impact completely destroyed the aircraft.

I am sorry for loss of life. BTW, a flight student I knew years ago, failed Private Oral Exam because he was asked to give the definition of "hypoxia", and he responded with "lack of oxygen." Hypoxia is insufficient oxygen to the brain. Anoxia is a lack of oxygen or total interruption of oxygen to the brain.

Hi Juan. You do a really good job in these videos. Come from an engineering background and now work in healthcare. Not a pilot but I muck about with flight sims. Also quite interested in Human Factors and how they effect incidents. I'm probably guessing there is a LOW cabin O2 alarm or warning at 10,000ft or so? This would be the sort of thing where we should be engineering out the problem to prevent this from happening, warning someone if the cabin isn't pressurised, and you're climbing that something bad is going to happen. It does sound like Hypoxia to me. Victor/VasAvaiation has a great vid on a Cessna Caravan in Western Australia where he landed safely but there was a clear transition from confused slurred speech to better speech and less confusions the lower he got.

Looking at Foreflight the airport, KTTD, has one Departure - Blue Lake 3. Departing Runway 7 climb via heading 055 degrees to 1,000' then turn left to 310 degrees or as vectored. The plate shows flying to Battleground VOR (BTG) then specific radials from the VOR, V520 (R-089) being the most likely IF they weren't vectored otherwise. The VOR is due north of Portland International (KPDX). There's also a Note: Rwy 7 requires a minimum climb gradient of 430' per NM to 4,000' (not that bad). Rwy 7 is 5,399' long. Field elevation is 39'. There is also a DIverse Vector Area Notice that's too long to reproduce here.

I knew Rick personally and professionally. One thing to note is he was short; maybe 5’ 4”-5’6”. The citation required 2 pilots in part to access the controls. Part of single pilot sign off is to ensure he can reach all necessary controls, including environmental controls. It’s possible he had hard time reaching.

I've been subscribed to VAS Aviation for several years now.

Thanks for another informative video. May all the souls that were on that aircraft Rest In Peace. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this accident.

Thanks for the updated/amended post. Now it’s much better. One request: When you’re playing the audio and commenting/explaining (and, they are excellent explanations, thanks) please pause the file so you’re not talking over the recorded speech. Dan Gryder’s theory (Probable Cause) is startlingly different and my comment about his video: When the forensic psychological investigation is complete we may know what really happened. For example, is his life highly insured? And, what is his relationship to the other person on board? Were there mass covid-19 deaths at one or more of his businesses? Was he under investigation for that and more financial troubles?

You are so informative when you cover one of these events. Us civil aviation has so many guys and girls like you. You are envy of rest of the world. I got my private pilot cert in 1973, but unfortunately didn't get my instr cert. I was inbound at Canton,oh airport when Thurmond Munsen crashed his new citation. What a nerve rattler. Be safe,. Bill

Mahalo for the info. I was USN Aircrew. I went in the chamber with a few other classmates to learn our symptoms of hypoxia. I felt like I had a few drinks in about 1min. We played certain games while waiting for the effects,like patty cake, writing our SSN ect. I also saw grey on the color chart. 1 crew member actually got a nose bleed!

Maybe there was a leak and he started to react inappropriately from his hypoxia. Personally, at 9,500, I need to be on oxygen.

370 in data block is ATC Computer entered data, most likely from filed flight plan.

With the finger Pulse Ox units so inexpensive and readily available, their use could be another tool in flight safety. And not just for pressurized cabins ....

he could have been experiencing the onset of a stroke and worsened as he took off

We must consider our hindsight bias when looking at this. We know he crashed, and we're able to focus our attention on only one plane. Very likely that the controller wouldn't notice the slurred speech, and he is reading back the instructions correctly. I'm suspecting a stroke.

I think the pilot got the pressure altitude warning, and was fiddling with it while proceeding to miss the initial radio call. When ATC gave him a serious warning about terrain, he hastily set the autopilot altitude, and perhaps mixed up the desired altitude with the desired rate of climb. His rate of ascent was about 2300 feet per minute, and his chosen altitude was 370 hundred feet. These numbers may make more sense if he put them in backwards and then went back to trying to troubleshoot the pressure issues, but he was already close to the edge of performance degradation. With alarms, terrain, and possibly now troubleshooting autopilot, I'm wondering if he used his supplemental oxygen, or if it didn't work.

Respectfully, I Imagined the aircraft would have flying on autopilot. This appears hand flown... aircraft has fallen off a wing and entered a stable spiral. His communications do feel labored... Much more labored than I would imagine at those altitudes. Tone gives impression he was really struggling at that point. We may never know. Heartbreaking. Heartfelt condolences to his loved ones.

The Reduced Oxygen Breathing Device may be useful for some training but it won’t let you experience an explosive decompression like the older altitude chambers will. That is probably more useful for crew members.

That controller was really on top of things and should be commended -- that was a Sully level response to an emergency. The image of the impact is haunting given the obvious high energy of the impact -- there is simply nothing of the aircraft visible, complete and total destruction. If the incapacitation occurred before reaching higher altitudes that would seem to eliminate depressurization as the cause leaving alcohol/drugs or medical factors as the most likely. Imagine being the passenger!

Excellent breakdown. Love the inclusion of VASAviation and Flightradar24, both of which I use constantly. I also immediately thought hypoxia, but as another comment mentioned, the pilot seemed off even prior to reaching the higher flight levels where hypoxia would (normally) start to affect him, although different people have different tolerances. Such a tragic incident, will be interesting to see the final NTSB report to help us understand what happened.

Thank You Juan and VASAviation, and Captain Moonbeam

Climbing left turn on rwy 7 departure at Troutdale.

I agree with Isaac Padgett down below here that he might have been having a stroke. I was listening to an incident on VASAviation concerning an ATC at Las Vegas where the controller had a stroke. Up until someone came to check I'm confident she didn't realize what was going on. And she too started off with just some mild symptoms, then at about 10 minutes in she started to go downhill rapidly.

What a strange and unfortunate flight for the pilot who sure sounded like he was struggling for some yet-unknown reason. It's awkward that the first name drop of TTD that I hear, where I once rented a 172 to fly the prescribed sightseeing loop around Mt. St. Helens on a vacation trip long ago, is this peculiar loss.

Juan, I do not think this is a hypoxic event resulting in pilot incapacitation. From the sound of the pilots voice, early on and before the high altitude, the pilot already sounded unusual on the ATC recording. Thank you, Victor at VAS. I believe the pilot might have been suffering from a medical emergency as in a possible stroke, or aneurism, both of which symptoms early on are slurred speech, confusion, inability to follow simple commands, loss of motor functions, etc, then eventually death, all exacerbated by an increase in altitude up to 30,000 feet. All speculation, of course, but having had a career as a Paramedic and seeing and hearing countless stroke victims, this would be my guess. Hopefully, the NTSB will get the answers. Anyone know the age of the pilot and who the other passenger was?

They have a clear lexan booth where about 10 people sit and experience the lack of oxygen at the EAA Oshkosh annual convention. They also have a chair that turns around while you are wearing goggles to experience vertigo.

"Snowmachines!" I thought only Alaskans called them that. Down here in the lower 48, I always have to explain what I mean. People here think I mean snow makers.

When I listened to the VAS Aviation ATC comms it sounded like a medical issue from the accident pilot started at 30 seconds and at the 1:05 minute mark he was definitely in a mental fog. I suspect that the reason he said the “radio” cleared up is because he was lapsing in and out of consciousness. It made me sad to listen to this.