Loss of a fellow aviator

The man involved in this accident was someone I had flown with. He was pleasant and would always exchange a few comments when he came by to pick up the airplane he was renting. He loved to fly and he enjoyed sharing the experience with others, on occasion bringing relatives and friends along.

I went with the owner of the flight school to the crash scene on Wednesday. We were unable to fly in as the weather was still below minimums. I won't ever forget what I saw there and knowing the individual involved added an additional dimension to the sight of twisted and broken metal. Representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were on hand to investigate the accident. All of us who fly owe our thanks to these folks as their efforts to understand what goes wrong when an accident occurs are critical to reducing the risk of flying for all of us.

Aviation is unforgiving of errors.