911 Call About Plane Crash Caused by Ambien Hallucination

Ambien Hallucination

Renton, WA – On May 12th, a 75-year-old man called 911 to report that he had been involved in a plane crash and that he was entrapped in the plane. It turned out that the man was hallucinating after taking the the popular prescribed sleep aid, Ambien.

KOMO News reports:

A disoriented man had taken the popular prescribed drug Ambien before making that call for help,

The 75-year-old man called dispatch at 2 a.m. on May 12 to say he had been in a plane crash. He said the small cargo plane was headed from Renton to Oregon when it went down.

The 911 recorded call included the following conversation:

Operator: Are you able to safely get out?

Caller: No. I’m pinned in.

Operator: Did it hit any buildings or just into the trees?

Caller: In the trees. In the field with trees.

The caller said he was in the plane with three other people who were not conscious.

Operator: Are you able to look out the window? Are you able to see for the wing where you are at?

Caller: No, I can’t see anything.

It turns out that the man imagined the entire thing after taking Ambien before bed.

The 911 caller did not want to talk on camera, but he did say how concerned he is about the side effects of Ambien. He said he only took half a pill because he couldn’t sleep after having surgery.

Dr. Gandis Mazeika is a sleep expert with Sound Sleep Health.

“It must have seem really real to him for him to call 911. It must have been like a real hallucination for him and that does speak to some of the potency of Ambien,” said Dr. Mazeika.

Mazeika said Ambien is one of the most popular prescribed drugs in the U.S. he said it’s safe but, there are times where it can cause problems.

If possible, people should have others around them when they take Ambien for the first time. Most police officers know at least one cop who has encountered somebody who took Ambien and went to bed, but are later found acting erratically in public.