Halladay Had Drugs In System

Former Major League pitcher Roy Halladay had three drugs in his system when his Icon A5 crashed off the coast of Florida in November. The retired ballplayer had trace amounts of morphine and amphetamine along with an intoxicating level of the sedative zolpidem, commonly known as Ambien, in his bloodstream according to an autopsy report obtained by TMZ. More than 50 nanograms per milliliter of zolpidem is considered by the FDA to be "capable of impairing driving to a degree that increases the risk of a motor vehicle accident" and Halladay's level was 72 nanograms. Cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma and drowning.

Halladay was observed diving, climbing and doing low-level steep turns over the Gulf of Mexico off Clearwater and boaters who shot cellphone video of this flying were the first on the scene of his accident. Halladay had the first of 100 "Founder's Edition" A5s and shot a promotional video with Icon talking about his lifelong desire to fly, which was interrupted by a 16-year MLB career that included two Cy Young Awards. The NTSB has only issued a preliminary report to date but will be aided by a comprehensive suite of flight data recorders that should enable investigators to plot every moment of the fatal flight.