re: Four family members killed in Christmas Eve plane crash in Florida

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I would guess heart disease first.

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Happens more than you would think, I knew one of four guys killed in a crash in N. Carolina some years ago. It was also a light twin, the 70 something year old pilot had a coronary right after becoming airborne.

That is true. I remember close to ten years ago when a doctor out of Tuscaloosa died in a small plane crash

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You get a weather briefing for your intended route before takeoff as part of the flight planning, and today it is pretty common to have something like XM aviation weather in the plane.

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Thanks.

Very tragic. A lot of the time it comes down to proficiency vs. currenency.

Just because you're legal to fly in those conditions doesnt mean you're sharp.

Always hate to second guess/armchair qb a pilot. Very tragic.

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remember close to ten years ago when a doctor out of Tuscaloosa died in a small plane crash

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Plane crash deaths are fairly common here. Coworker lost her brother last spring in a twin engine crash. He was trying to show his passenger how he could restart the engines in case of engine failure.

You see the entire spectrum with pilots. There are the overly cautious who want weather updates every five minutes and there are those that treat a plane like a pickup truck ride to town.
No matter the experience level, a 70 year old pilot’s skills have greatly diminished over the years. A major factor in many crashes is the fact that the pilot or passengers have got to get to their destination. I remember a lawyer who was getting married the following day. He “had” to get home. His Bonanza ended up in tiny pieces in the Arkansas Delta after flying through a thunderstorm.

Fog isn’t a problem to fly through as long as its legal to fly. Meaning, you have to have minimum visibility in order to take off. As that visibility is down the runway though. The dense fog can be at 200 feet, and you are still good to go. The problem is that when you are in complete “white out” IMC conditions, the pilot is responsible for so many things. Especially during take off. Gear, flaps, power settings, climbing, turning on course, working the radios. All while trying to fly straight and level (or turning or whatever). That situation is taxing on a pilot without a good autopilot. I would venture a guess that at 70, that situation was beyond his capabilities. Even more so if he doesn’t fly in that situation on a regular basis.

The majority of the planes in the air now are at least 20 years old and aren’t set up for hard IFR flying. Not for pilots that aren’t very proficient.

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He was trying to show his passenger how he could restart the engines in case of engine failure.

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jesus, can you imagine the passengers reaction when when the engines weren’t restarting. I’d be like “ok, you can stop frickin with me now”

I have wanted to take lessons for years but every time I start to get serious about it I remember that I know three people who have died in separate general aviation crashes. Including this young lady that was also involved in a Christmas Eve crash in 2015 LINK

I don't know that many that have died in auto accidents.

My bother had to put a Cessna down in a corn field once and was not injured and I know a retired air force pilot that put a small twin engine down in the Gulf--fortunately he did it near a rig and was quickly rescued.

Those things put it into perspective for me.

No way a general aviation pilot flying even once a week can be as safe as a commercial pilot flying a commercially maintained, frequently used airplane.

I am so sorry to hear of your tragedy.

You have a 1 and 25 million chance of dying in a plane crash, 1 and 2 million chance of dying by lightning.. That sucks.