[PilotDave]

Many don't know Patrick Swayze was a pilot. He crashed his airplane in 2000. It was a Cessna 414 which is a twin piston engine cabin class 8 place aircraft. The moral of this story is don't drink and fly.

[Moose4]

Three packs a day, wow. Even if he hadn’t been hitting the bottle, it sounds like he was trying to kill himself with CO poisoning in the cabin.

}:-)4

[justlurking]

The moral of this story is don't drink and fly.

I think you should read the NTSB report more carefully.

Although witnesses reported the pilot removing alcohol from the baggage compartment (which isn't accessible during flight) and a bottle of wine from the cabin, none reported any smell of alcohol on the pilot. However, witnesses did report a smell of alcohol in the cabin.

Subsequent examination of the plane found that the pressurization system had a problem that would have probably prevented it from maintaining the appropriate cabin altitude. Combined with the pilot's heavy smoking habit (3 packs/day), the most likely cause of the pilot's disorientation was hypoxia.

[VOA]

Mr. Swayze did make some news in my humble hometown of Ponca City
Oklahoma (probably in the late 1990s?).
A short note appeared in our local “The Ponca City News” that Mr.
Swayze had landed at our municipal airport, gotten his plane refueled,
and ordered some chow to be brought to his plane from our (rather good)
airport restaurant.

I came by the news report when a relative mailed the news clipping to
me. When I later heard mentions of Mr. Swayze likely “flying
while buzzed”, I wondered if he wasn’t a bit of a lost soul.

Anyway, his earthly travails are ended. And I did generally like him
as an actor/personality.