Originally Posted by
Sillert,V.I.
I know there are many here who believe a flight of this nature should never have taken place in a piston single at night.
That said, the aircraft type was designed for this type of mission when flown IFR by a suitably qualified and licenced pilot.
If this flight had been planned using this aircraft, but IFR using the airways at a sensible flight level, it would almost certainly have ended uneventfully.
How difficult would it have been in practice to have found a suitably qualified CPL/IR to captain this flight?
How would he know what the tops were if the flight was planned for 5k and under the CAS and which I assume was not intended to be flown on a clearance? He appears to have choosen to descend either to find warmer air or to get out of visible moisture in order to avoid iceing or reduce a build up in progress. Why would climbing to airway flight levels if indeed that was even possible if he already was experiencing icing been any better of a choice than descending if the tops were unknown to him?
Genuine question about airman/woman decision making, not focused exclusively on this tragic accident.