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

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Beechcraft F33A Debonair [Credit: FLYING Archives]

Key Takeaways:

The NTSB attributed the crash of a Beechcraft Debonair, which killed pilot Jenny Blalock and her father, to a loss of aircraft control possibly caused by autopilot misuse.
Blalock, a relatively new pilot flying a high-performance aircraft, had documented difficulties using the autopilot and was noted by flight instructors for poor manual handling, lack of situational awareness, and struggling with cockpit automation.
The accident flight displayed severe altitude and airspeed oscillations, consistent with pilot-induced oscillations resulting from conflicting manual and autopilot pitch inputs, leading to an uncontrollable, steep descent.
Toxicology reports indicated the pilot had ingested medications (trazodone, alprazolam, buspirone) for anxiety and depression, which are disqualifying for pilots and can cause cognitive and psychomotor impairment.

See a mistake? Contact us.

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.