Accident Case Study: Blind Over Bakersfield 

Just what I was thinking. A wife and 3 kids on board.

But you’re assuming you will always know the risks every situation you will encounter-unlikely. You don’t think this pilot was _intentionally_ risking his life and his family’s life, do you? Being a father has nothing to do with it. I’m not a father and I wouldn’t intentionally risk my life like this, either. These GA pilots _did not know what risks they were taking_ until it was far too late. Simple as that. You are in the privileged position to judge the circumstances _from the outcome,_ and congratulate yourself for it. It is precisely this attitude that these videos are made to disturb. What appears like an obvious risk after the outcome will look different to the pilot _at the time_ they made their decisions. All over these videos are people saying they would not have made the same mistakes. Perhaps not. But it is 100% certain they will make _other_ mistakes. Where is the humility, not to mention empathy? Not once have a ever read someone say, “Wow, I might have done that, too” or “I really needed to see this” or “I learned something from this.” All I see are people comparing themselves with the deceased pilots and passengers. You are missing the entire point if all you can say is that it could never happen to you.

1000%

@@buryurfear14 Yeah but I wished to be in the air so often now my neck is hurting from looking up at planes :) To explain I had several technical issues and a big avionics update so neighbors frequently saw me in the garden shaking my fist at damn pilots that own airworthy airplanes.

J

I know nothing about being a pilot, but when you get your GA license, vfr I guess is what you call it, how hard, and how long does it take to become instrument qualified?

@@trent3872 about 40hrs of flight training. It’s difficult, but not TOO difficult if you put in the study time and have a good instructor. Anyone who can get a private pilots license is capable of getting an instrument rating.

If he would have trusted his instruments for turns and level flight, he would have been ok, unless icing conditions did not give him FSCA ( flight surfaces control authority). Pronounced "F-I-S-K-A" , If I didn't have Fiska, I would have turned on the de-icing equipment immediately, and If a plane that can travel that high didn't have de-icing equipment, I would not have filed that flight plan electronically but would have contacted Flight Service to see what we had in front of us. De-Icing modifications can be added to a plane of this type but get out the wallet and be prepared to pay a good fee.

It makes it seem like he's done it before. Normalizing deviance.

@@dabneyoffermein595sometimes only trusting the instruments are not enough. It takes proper scan techniques to actively absorb the information from the instruments, especially since he just accepted a pop-up IFR clearance. Very likely he turned his full attention on the GPS upon receiving the IFR route, and forget about his six-pack instruments altogether.

@@junyuzheng5282 Good point

@@dabneyoffermein595 He had possibly trained accepting and implementing IFR instructions and felt confident that he could do it. However, a crucial part of that training is learning not to trust your senses, but rather your instruments. So, while he might have been able to work the IFR directive (which he already struggled with), the part of pure instrument flight may not have been sufficiently practiced. The pilot may not have recognized the problem, because his vestibular system told him, that things were fine, while the instruments told that they weren't - all while dealing with finding the proper heading and possibly changing altitude.

Well stated......☆☆☆☆

Good thought process... The worst that can happen with a "no-go" call is a missed obligation or disappointed passengers. The worst that can happen with an erroneous "go" call is your name ending up on an NTSB report. I often have to remind myself of that.

Well said. But I would add that all private pilots should have the second opinion of someone who would know before lifting off in every single flight. A second opinion that is non-objective could be the person who sees the whole in the plan that you don't see. I don't know why something like that is not already in place. Like a legal authority. An airplane is a deadly weapon, not a toy. We should treat it as such.

I’m glad you stayed out of trouble :). Good process, good self awareness. It undoubtedly kept you two alive.

Well said

The most dangerous disease for pilots.

Yep. Especially flying with his family, he probably wanted to make sure they didn't miss it.

This would have been a great opportunity to leave a day earlier and trade the Piper Lance for the Honda Odyssey.

And “surprise” makes it worse.

Party wrecker in the end.

Me too ! Done flying for years, and many to yrs to come ! "Let Europe be Europe, but my life is more precious !" 😊☝️💯💪🙏

Agreed re lessons to learn for any area of activity, and particularly in our workplaces or any situations where the safety of our family & friends is involved! The dangers of complaisance, get-there-itis, normalizing deviance from set guidance, these are all completely applicable in general life too... 😔

Yeah my heart sank when he said 3 kids on board. I don't know why any pilot would take this course of action with his family on board.

TOPSPOT yeah, is it stupidity? Hubris? What is it? Why would someone do this? Defies common sense. Just don’t fly into bad weather. Doesn’t take a genius

I can’t believe he accepted the IFR. What was he thinking?

Like the clip says, "it's easy to judge from zero knots and 1G." I knew Jason personally and he had a beautiful family. Sure he was over confident, under trained, and his decisions were catastrophic. But to fly you have to be confident. He didn't respect it enough and didn't turn around and out it on the ground. Tragic. There's another audio clip out there of all of his communications and one is difficult to listen to because you can hear the kids screaming in the background. Try listening to that while in the cockpit and it's your kids with your wife sitting beside you. That's stress that you can only understand if you've been in the situation.

@Sabrina Dugan The IFR wouldn't help him land the plane. He didn't want to land. He wanted to keep flying! And the IFR would help him do that. He didn't sound desperate at all. At no point did he even seem worried. As far as the kids, they were used to flying with Dad. This could have been just another Sunday drive. However a few minutes later I'm sure they were crying and screaming. Poor things. I do agree with you about the possibility of not wanting to let his wife know he didn't know what he was doing. You know how us men are. But in the end I think he was just over confident in his abilities. And because he had a few hours of IFR training he thought he was good to go. Because again, you know how us men are.

made me sick as soon as it showed he had his whole family on board

Many of the video's on this channel involve children. All of them are of private pilot accidents. Most of them die. And most of them suffer for at least a minute or two before impact. It's a terrible thing. But that's the point of this channel. To teach pilots not to make stupid decisions.

Accidents/crashes happen often with small private aircraft. I live in Florida and small private planes crash here all the time.

Statistically, general aviation is more dangerous than motorcycle riding. I was surprised to learn that!

Facts...seems no matter how many times I stick my nose in the clouds, the pucker factor always comes into play. Stay proficient, stay current, and never let your guard down...that's my philosophy.

I sometimes think about the WW2 pilots who used the clouds as a way to get away from enemy fighters when too many of them or ran out of ammunition they must have been very skilled pilots.

Yep. The adrenaline suprises me every time - not something you get in simulated instrument either.

What happens in cumulus clouds, and why is it different than any other cloud? Turbulence?

While those pilots were undoubtedly skilled, keep in mind that they were weighing IFR conditions against being actively hunted and machine-gunned in VFR conditions. Clouds are dangerous, but not as dangerous as enemy pilots that want you dead.

You were blessed that day. You got a second chance, and I'm glad you never looked back. He didn't :( You can just feel his desire to not make different plans despite all the weather, all the warnings, and the warning bells in his head.

My grandfather was experienced in instrument flight, but most often he'd turn around in low visibility to get back to good visibility to fly around or land if that weren't possible. Risking people's lives just isn't worth it. Much of what went wrong here was a failure on a common sense level that doesn't take pilot training to realize. Much like that doctor that died flying from Georgia to Delaware which is also discussed on this channel. Airplanes aren't called doctor killers for no reason. They seem prone to overconfidence. The death of Kobe Bryant, his coach friend, those two kids was similarly unnecessary. Better to be late for or miss a basketball game than risk people's lives.

On that graph at the 15:19 mark. Is the axis labeled track angle (deg) synonymous with compass heading?

@@MrMowky He wasn't blessed. He got lucky. Nothing more.

When I was signed off to solo I use to love to fly at night after work/class, air was calm and airspace was less busy (under KSEA class B). Would fly from BFI to PWT for stop and goes. I remember it was a typical Seattle overcast night, and PWT is surround by rural/farm land. I landed, stopped, and then took off. Once I nosed up, the sky went pure / pitch black; I had a feeling of vertigo / falling backwards nearly immediately! I lost situational awareness (and truth be told got fairly scared). Nosed down enough to see some distant lights; and then noticed at that attitude I was barely climbing. I knew there were no obstacles in the area, so I climbed slowly until 1500, and then turned back to BFI :) It was a really good experience in hindsight. I knew the area, I knew what to do, I flew the plan, etc. I don't think I was 'over confident,' I was inexperienced! When I watch these ASI videos I have no idea what the pilot was thinking. But we can all agree the plan wasn't to kill himself and all passengers... I am thankful that we have these resources so we can learn and gain some experience without having to place our lives in danger. I will become a better pilot because of these videos and continued learning. In order to become a good pilot you NEED to push things. But with an escape plan. It seems like this pilot didn't want to turn around, but again we don't know. I am thankful to be able to learn from his mistakes, to increase our knowledge and experience. Safe travels...

Why do they allow people seemingly unqualified to fly with passengers?

jesus that just drained the color from my face, can't even imagine

Bet he's a Capt for Ryan Air now huh?

@@tyroniousyrownshoolacez2347 Ryan Air requires how many hours to gain captain status? 12..LOL

Simulators. Most people won’t do it. They’ll be receiving instruction with the IFR glasses and screw up the entire exercise, the instructor corrects them and some literally think that they “did well” in the maneuvers. I saw that with a guy in my school years ago. He was awful in IMC, BUT he recognized it, accepted it and avoided weather and IMC like the plague. I think he did get his IFR. Rating later.

You knew the whole family yet "forgot about the crash?" What?

@@ylekiote99999 Life moves on, you live and forget. Things make you remember though.

@@mikecaudill8861 You're weird. Every single other person in the world would never forget something like this.

You dont dwell on 9/11 every hour of your life do you? I dont, despite the profound impact it had on me and the rest of the country.

@@fadedflage I don't dwell on it but I don't completely forget about it! You claim to have known these people.....Yet you forgot about the crash?

not the father of the year there

Very well said. Pilot confidence is not the same as pilot knowledge. As a member of the flying public, I always prefer pilot knowledge over confidence.

I think what you don't understand is that he thought he was doing everything right, just as much as YOU think you are doing everything right each time you fly. He simply was not prepared for all the possible scenarios that could happen on this flight. Most pilots are not. Do you carry a spare radio? Would you be prepared to deal with weather where turning around was not an option? Would you be prepared for icing that you could not correct? What if you lost your panel? Do you test for CO? Do you know exactly what you would do at 500, 1,000, 2,000 feet up after takeoff if your plane caught on fire? The list goes on. This guy failed because he was not prepared for a worst case scenario. Most pilots are not. So...in some cases, that equates to a crash. Gravity wins.

It's the Dunning-Kruger effect yet again. People don't know (or more importantly won't admit) what they don't know. Even had he had instrument rating the problem would have persisted - as he demonstrates a lamentable lack of appreciation of his capabilities or lack thereof - tragedy, for this guy, was only a matter of timing.

@jet guy Preach it brother! I couldn't agree more- I think the last good decision he made was fastening his seat belt- it all went to Hell from there. One bad decision after another. If he had confessed VFR capable in an IMC environment, ATC would have moved Heaven and Earth to get him back on the ground safely- and they probably would have gotten it done. I am living proof they can do it. 40 yrs ago, before getting my instrument and ATP ratings I found myself in a truly horrible weather problem, confessed my situation and got help to get out of it. I'm not sure why people are so afraid ATC or even declaring an emergency to get the help they need. Waiting until its a "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday" situation is too late- not much they can do then.

On one of my IFR training flights, I was in mostly VFR skies, but one little dot of ice formed on a bolt on the wing strut. The instructor showed it to me and said "Let's go home."

My favorite is "its better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground"

you and me both brother!

Like the great Clint Eastwood said in Dirty Harry, "A man has to know his limitations!" Nothing but respect for that Sir because you lived to see another day and play Golf ⛳ 👍🏽👍🏽

@@trezndawg4240 Crazy golf maybe. My coordination is so poor I struggle to even split wood. I do take comfort though in all of the people who are probably still alive today by virtue of me of not making it as a commercial pilot. I have a lot of time to ponder these things as I drive my truck, a job that requires little else other than the ability of keeping the vehicle between the lines on the road, in fact you could probably train a monkey to do it.

@@robbflynn4325 aside from a standard flight on a Commercial Airline, like you, I take comfort in being on solid ground. The closest I've come to flying is being a Drone Pilot and enjoying video and photography images from my drone camera.

@@trezndawg4240 Yeah seriously, the incident when I went into the clouds and could see nothing outside really shook me to the core. A lot of people training in aviation have no doubt encountered similar stuff, but unlike me are able to learn from it and press on, and for that they have my admiration, but it scared the hell out of me, I really thought I was going to die that day!

For real what the hell was he thinking

This is one of those crashes that fills me with legit anger. Its one thing if you want to be a fool and risk yourself, but to subject your wife and kids to that foolishness is villainous.

Isn't 10,000 the proper time to use oxygen?

@@TomasAWalker53 12500 if remaining for more than 30 minutes

That was probably his biggest mistake, every bad decision from there on could have been the result of oxygen deprivation.

It's like a ghost warning you from the grave.

I have an instrument rating, and I'm current and consider myself instrument proficient... However, when I plan a trip, I always have a plan B in the ready. That is driving mostly, so I make sure my "go-no go" decision is made well in advance where I can hop in the car and still make it on time. There is no reason to push aviation... We don't generally win...

The schedule is more flexible than the bow - AnyOld TugboatCaptain

Smart man.

Just curious Phil... is a northern route also ok? Like north of Sacramento and Tahoe, then going south the Vegas area?

Phil and his wife decided to take a commercial airline to be safe... Little did they know that commercial flight would never arrive to its destination... R.I.P

Well, put.

I’ve never been near a small airplane, but since safety costs so much time gaining experience, why fly? (I know, I know. Why am I wasting time watching these tragic stories if I don’t understand the appeal?)

Confidence and money

And deadly...

@@lisaschuster9187 I watch them too...documentaries teach life I lessons. And I still like being a passenger!

Right you are. I was told that the winds in that storm approached 100 kt upward, but I do not have confirmation of that. I do know that the plane lost a wing in the storm and that is why the plane crashed.

Its a shame the autopilot wasnt really used. Even if unrated he could have squeaked by with ALT and Heading hold if he didnt have to multitask and control the plane :(

@@FlightX101 Its not a panacea. JFK junior killed himself with the autopilot, and it was a contributing factor to the accident, or so the NTSB believes. His flight path was correct until time to land, and they believe he disconnected autopilot and then went into spatial disorientation spins, two of them, because he had sat there unprepared to fly the aircraft during most of the flight. See the NTSB report. I did my IFR training without an AP, but got the AP installed later. It certainly is easier to fly with AP on, but proper training makes the difference. I still don't trust the AP for everything, and tend to disconnect it in rough turbulence, IFR or no.

Scott, can you kindly reference which page of the NTSB report carries the belief that JFK Jr's use of autopilot was a contributing factor? On pages 19-20 of the report, detailed technical coverage of the Bendix/King 150 AFCS is provided, but I was not able to find further mention or reference to the AFCS as a factor in the report. Thank you.

It's amazing how fast the spatial disorientation sets in. Looks like it was minutes if not seconds after he took the IFR clearance and penetrated the clouds that he started to loose it

Your narrative reminds me of one of many air searches I flew as a Mission Pilot for Civil Air Patrol in the mid 1970's and 80's in southern California. I flew on several "scud running accidents" through the Tehachapi Mountains during those years. Get-home-itis kills so many people.

And that is what scares me about it. I am still a student, and last week, my attitude indicator was completely failed. I was straight-and-level and it showed a 100° bank. I get really nervous about instrument flying when instruments go awry.

I read that JFK Jr died because he was an VFR pilot who flew into IMC (nighttime darkness over the ocean). He eventually entered a death spiral to the right due to spacial disorientation. It was also reported in this article I read that he was also transitioning into a new aircraft in which he only had 7 hours. Because of this and because of a walking cast he had on his left leg due to a broken ankle, one of his flight instructors offered to make the flight with him, but JFK Jr refused the offer, saying, "I want do it alone." Of course, he didn't do it alone. His wife and her sister were on board with him. Sad.

Put simply you're supposed to disregard what you're seeing and use instruments for navigation. Wow it's almost like that's the entire point of instrument flight.

TRUST THOSE INSTRUMENTS!

I'm not a pilot so bear with me. Ray Atkinson above described a scary situation where his instruments apparently failed, giving the impression he wasn't straight and level when he was. What's a pilot to do if his spatial awareness is wrong *and* his instrument(s) is/are wrong? I'm assuming "cross-checking" involves looking at additional instrumentation?

Shortest entry in your logbook? Was there any profanity? The more of these videos I watch, and the more subsequent comments I read, the more I think I should leave flying to the pilots and just keep doing what I do.... welding, occasionally painting, drinking scotch and playing the piano. My only worry now is that a plane might fall on my head LOL.

@@heraclitus6100 - ...lol.... If I ever get a chance to fly an airplane I'm going to jump at the chance.

I've been in the clouds twice. Once as a pilot and once as passenger. The one as passenger, the pilot was trying to climb through a rift in the clouds, and it closed on us. She started losing her calm, and panicking. My low-hour student-pilot self had to play instructor, and remind her to look at her instruments. We climbed out of it in about 30 seconds. Then we turned around and descended ahead of the cloud front and landed. (She wanted me to land it! I told her, "No way!") The other time, I was flying at night, and as per my usual, I was using instruments, since night flying can be difficult - false horizons, weird visual cues, etc. I looked out the window, and all the lights had disappeared. Oops. Flew into a cloud that I never saw. As I was starting to turn a 180 to go back to clear air, the lights reappeared - I had flown out the other side. I didn't run into any more clouds on that trip. Just let ATC know about the conditions in the area and moved on. It ended up not being any kind of problem because I was already flying primarily by instruments before I entered the cloud.

@Richard G I suck at the piano. I'm better at drinking scotch.

I’m going to say this never happened.

You don't need chains to drive in snow, you need winter tires ;) and yeah, snow is no joke when you're not used to it !

Def Misanthrope that is a very valid point (I got a read of your earlier, longer unedited reply to my comment above). During our training as pilots, it’s a topic that is at least touched on: The phrase most often used is called to “stay ahead of the aircraft”. Meaning you constantly must think of the tasks and possibilities that lie ahead or may lie ahead. Anticipate and be prepared. As the number of tasks pile up, “staying ahead” becomes more and more difficult. Preparation for and practice of the most frequent emergency situations reduce some of the risk of proceeding into known, increasing danger. However a pilot needs to be able to snap out of tunnel vision, be aware when to “call it”, accept the limitations they can’t control, then choose and execute an alternate course of action that eliminates the danger at hand. One technique used to snap yourself out of it, is to adhere to “personal limits”.. i.e: "I won’t do X if conditions are worse than Y". I digress. Failures of anticipation and failures of imagination do occur, as in this tragedy. And that’s where it seems your syndrome fits right in. An overconfident pilot can’t or won’t imagine the possibile failure that lurks ahead, even if it's obvious. Or even if they do sense the impending danger, your syndrome would cause them to suppress that gut feeling. They are convinced they can “do this.” Personally I feel pilots *are* taught to listen carefully to that gut feeling. Whether they do or don’t is another matter. But I’ve had to listen and abide by my gut myself a few times. It’s an interesting situation ..to “give in” to a vague sense of unease when your brain has other impulses that urge you to press on. Valuable food for thought. Physiologically - the last 51 minutes of this flight were spent above 15,000ft altitude. Lower oxygen levels could easily affect the pilot's decision making and spatial orientation skills. Thanks for your comment.

And most of the people in this comment section as well!

Kind of like YOU not understanding what Dunning-Kruger actually is. It’s in regards to people with low cognitive ability, not a specific inability. You just wanted to use that reference, but made yourself look like a fucking idiot to people not as dumb as you.

Greg Mitchell could the pilot have taken a northern route to avoid the bad weather?

I would probably have the dunning kruger effect here as I'm not a pilot but am interested in getting my license eventually. I'm well aware of how dangerous VFR into IMC clearly is, but i still don't understand exactly why they have so much trouble. Yes your vestibular system will tell you you're descending or banking etc. but I'm sure all these VFR pilots were taught that in their flight school to ignore what you're feeling and just follow instruments? So when getting into IMC conditions why is it always so hard for them to just follow their instruments like I'm sure they've been told? Or are they not instructed on this basic advice?

More often than somebody thinks. Edit: some wise man said: go-around is first option, landing is second.

Yes, but not just when flying. Confirmation bias is a killer. Many people drive when exhausted beyond their endurance, especially on holidays. Boaters often go out on the water without being aware of the forecast and their vulnerability. I have even seen people vote for candidates who are known to engage in illegal, immoral, and financially unsustainable behaviour for leadership positions. As a wise man once told me: "Always question your motivations." Our human tendency to make the choice that seems comfortable can be life changing to us and our families.

I CONCUR SIR!

I got an attitude indicator failed in IMC and it just so happened that my autopilot relies on the AI. I am quite lucky that I am still typing now. AP is great, but don't let your hand flying proficiency slip. Safe flying.

yeah why not use autopilot (if equipped)?

@@PlaneMechEsq When your ai failed, what did you use? TC? Just wondering (not a pilot here). Former controller.

Yes, TC and cross check with HSI for roll, and altimeter and VSI for pitch.

After reflecting on the video, it's possible that his poor decisions were the result of oxygen deprivation. He only had 3 masks and 3 kids, so it's possible he was just going on low oxygen. Might explain why we don't hear screaming over the radio. Wife is already unconscious and kids' voices are muffled. Yes, he made mistakes basically as soon as he got off the ground, but once he kept climbing to stay above the clouds, he might not have been in a state of mind to realize that autopilot or turning around or emergency landing were options. I'm no pilot, but if I were in that situation and was asked over the radio if I could fly IFR, I might think "How hard can it be? You just follow instructions and keep your eyes on the gauges" and then I'd promptly die like this guy did.

That's freaking excellent. I'm glad as a CFI you do this. This is probably more important than a new student learning IFR!!! I really think the perils of spatial disorientation should be not only for ground school, but significant (safety) part of the flying PPL experience. If people want something mandated to stop this damned madness, then THIS will definitely help.

Better late. Than dead on time .

"Tahoe" or "Tejon Pass"?

@@kurtbilinski1723 Tejon spell check got me.

Bravo to you!

Awesome...totally agree with you.....

Nice story. Perfectly illustrate the "it is far better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground"... Your choice.

This Channel is fantastic!! I'm using to teach "Aviation English" to my students!

Totally agree!!

"A man's got to know his limitations."-Clint Eastwood

Best to you on your instrument training.....!!

Benjamin Damm true. It does seem bad he didn’t call flight service considering the weather he had planned on flying into. I do online briefs but have found the briefers are good at putting the data together in painting a picture.

There is considerable wisdom in your attitude and approach, sir, and particularly if your wife has had plenty of right-seat experience watching you and the weather and deciding which she should bet on.

Good point, let Southwest skid off the r/wy and damage their planes and not yours!

Yeah...and what would you do if you found that turning around was not an option? Tell your wife? What would you do if you lost all your radios? Lost your panel during IMC? Telling your wife anything does little to no good. What matters is being prepared for the worst than can happen.

@@motoxcarbon9891 Yeah, but we're hardly talking about worse-case scenarios where a prepared pilot enters a known weather. This is an unprepared and inexperienced pilot flying a fairly large and powerful aircraft with a lot of features he doesn't know how to use charging headlong into complex weather because he thought he could find a way through. The issue is not what to do when you lose your radios or run out of options. The issue to having some concept of where your skill isn't enough to handle the situation and having the wisdom to execute on the plan that involves driving to the airport and boarding one of the many flights to Las Vegas, or at the very least leaving enough room in the plan for landing, checking into a hotel, and seeing what conditions are like tomorrow.

Wow , you came very close to dying .

I've watched almost all the Air Crash investigation videos, one of the biggest deciding factors between the pilots who lived and the pilots who died, is that the pilots who lived decided to turn back the second things were starting to go wrong for them.

as Harry Callahan.

That is the motto I've lived my life by.. In every aspect of living... Greatest life quote of all time.. Magnum Force.. ✌️

@@execatty Truer words were never spoken (￢‿￢ )

@@nonmihiseddeo4181 amen brother

“Now you've got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky?" - Inspector Harry Callahan

Exactly my thoughts

i had no idea this happened!

They were my neighbors, and my friend was John.

I can believe it, because now I have seen multiple documented cases of it. You have to be a certain personality type to even begin flying. Some of those characteristics are a bit of alpha/machismo/egomaniacal/suave/etc. He had the beginnings of the training. Figured it would slingshot him over the "slow" traditional training and prove he could do it and it wasn't so hard. Get-there-itis was a huge factor, but I know what was going through his head before this happened and during. I'm a badass and I can do this... Well, maybe not. I'm guilty of it in the simulators. All I want to do is IFR stuff on huge airliners and in the real world I've done one flight in a C172 and I could barely fly the damn thing in perfect weather.

@@mjodr somebody has read chapter 2 of the PHAK...

@@dgdanielgoldman I don't know what that is, but I'm reading it now and it looks pretty interesting. Thanks!

he also flew his family above 12k feet with what? 3 oxy's for 5 people? This dude didn't have a freaking clue what he was doing!

Kind of tells you all you need to know about what kind of pilot he was.

No problem. Just search RU-vid for Russian dash cam videos

He had "get there-itis" and would have gone no matter what anyone told him anyways.

The dead learn no lessons, learning is for the living. Can't remember where I heard that but it always stuck with me.

BluegrassMedia True!

He accepted the IFR clearance because he saw it as a way to get to his destination. He had severe get-there-itis.

@@Banshee365 but why didnt the ATC ask him if he was IFR rated? I blame ATC....they noticed he kept on changing altitudes to stay clear of the clouds and yet suggested an IFR clearance for him without even asking if he is rated or even still current.

@@GbengaAmedrovi Because ATC is not required to vet a pilots' certifications prior to issuing clearances. That's not how this works. All of that is up to the pilot. That's the job of inspectors on the ground. ATC cannot be blamed in any way for this accident. It's all on the PIC for poor decision making.

And entirely preventable and unnecessary.

Doesn't get more heart breaking that losing a whole family. I can't imagine.

Yeah, he survived twice as long than is average, but the IMC is rough if you are not ready. Probably even when you are ready.

Wow.. that is an average I wasn't familiar with. 3 minutes. I'm thankful to learn from others, being "only" a 330 hour SEL, VFR, recreational pilot. Keeping myself, my wife, and our 3 kids safe is important, so this tragedy strikes home. I strive to be a disciplined and diligent pilot.

@@65SATisfaction ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b7t4IR-3mSo.html you should watch this, my PPL instructor made me watch it and I think it is excellent material to have back in your head not to go into IMC.

@@65SATisfaction if keeping your wife and kids are important you should get your instrument rating

@@65SATisfaction I remember my first visit to IMC with my instructor. I felt 2 minutes would have been enough to finish me. It was really bumpy and it wouldn't have been long. He showed me the scan and what to watch and in about 5 minutes it was still level and we were holding heading and altitude. It taught be to never go near that at all costs! Never!

1) Family safety comes first. 2) See point 1. /translate

Hearing these tapes are hard enough - this one was heart-wrenching.

I think that there is more voice recordings of the family screams in the background which may have been a good idea not to broadcast.

@@goutvols103 You would be correct. I've heard them. Sickening.

SpaXpert You heard them? How that?

@@dryan8377 I have the same question. Where did you hear them?

@@goutvols103 poor kids ...

That was my question before. They should not teach vfr pilot to fly above clouds, because what if there is no scape from that?