Sometimes, as a passenger, you have to say to yourself, maybe I should take the car. Terrible accident but completely avoidable. Not sure why the pilot didn't turn around and head back when the mountains were not in sight. Another factor, he was the "only" pilot onboard. No one to second guess or bounce ideas off of.
One of the reasons I decided not to pursue an IFR rating was that I thought that "in the dark, in the clouds, all by myself" was not a place I wanted to be. Not saying there aren't people who can do that but anyone who says that your chances of missing something that ends up turning you into a statistic goes up quite a bit is only fooling themselves.
I saw a story today that Kobe and his wife had an agreement that they would never both fly on the same helicopter. Smart agreement on their part.
What's the point of an open door policy if inside the open door sits a closed mind?
