Originally Posted by
ChickenHouse
Wow, that pilot had approximately 3,700 hours, so he definitely did know what he was doing. Nobody could ignore all things told over so many hours.
And why the F<self-censored> did he descent instead of going through the rain or turn back to Guernsey?
Yes, it would be nasty and one would have to apologize later, but he was low enough to be clear of icing and had a capable aircraft.
This flight path ... failure of the autopilot followed by spatial disorientation of the untrained pilot?
Where was the autopilot mounted in the aircraft, any chance in this mess to determine the final setting?
It appears most of his hours were routine parachute dropping over the same site in fine VFR daylight.