Autopilot Confusion, Impairment Cited in Fatal Crash of Aviation Vlogger

NTSB final report details pilot’s struggles with complex Beechcraft Debonair and use of disqualifying meds.

Meg Godlewski

Friday, February 20, 2026 at 04:40 PM ET

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Edited By:

Travis Tingle

NTSB logo and image [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

The NTSB cited a loss of aircraft control, possibly due to the pilot's misuse of the autopilot and its manual pitch trim system, as a causal factor in the fatal crash of Jenny Blalock's Beechcraft Debonair.
Instructors noted that Blalock, a relatively new pilot, struggled with manual aircraft handling, cockpit automation, and situational awareness, and was advised she had "purchased more aircraft than she was ready for."
The accident flight's data showed increasingly severe altitude and airspeed oscillations, consistent with pilot-induced oscillations, before the aircraft entered an uncontrolled, steep nose-down descent.
Toxicology reports indicated the pilot had ingested medications for anxiety and depression that are considered disqualifying for pilots due to potential psychomotor and cognitive impairment.

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The National Transportation Safety Board has cited a loss of aircraft control possibly attributed to the misuse of the autopilot as one of the causal factors in the crash of a Beechcraft Debonair that killed aviation vlogger Jenny Blalock and her father James in December 2023 near Pulaski, Tennessee.

Blalock, 45, began her aviation training in 2021 and used video cameras in the cockpit to document her experiences on her YouTube channel, TNFlygirl.