A 44-year-old pilot crashed his Van’s RV-4 kitplane at Laughlin Bullhead International Airport in Arizona on Saturday, and the subsequent autopsy revealed he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The airplane crashed near the runway, and a 9-mm pistol was found in the wreckage along with the pilot’s body.
The incident occurred sometime between 6 and 7 a.m., before the airport’s control tower opened. There were no witnesses. The pilot was identified as Thomas Joseph. NTSB investigator Patrick Jones told a local newspaper that he could not recall any other incidents involving in-flight suicide by gunshot.
