Originally Posted by
Lookleft
what are your thoughts on a pilot who did not do the legally required BFR? Could you please comment on what you think should be done about pilots who do not do any flight planning or even obtain a weather forecast before they operate?
Those aspects were quite well covered in the report. However, accidents rarely have one cause and it's worth looking into other contributing factors.
The pilot wanted to stay at 6500, and the simple way to remain OCTA was to divert about 5 miles right of track. After the initial clearance was denied, the pilot did turn right, presumably that was their intention.
Then the Class D controller provides a clearance into class D (2 way communication constitutes a clearance) with the instruction "at or below 1000 feet" but no tracking instructions. The pilot reads back "At or below 1000 feet", turns back on track and begins descending. There was no reason the pilot would descend other than to comply with the "at or below" instruction.
If there was a communication misunderstanding between the pilot and ATC that resulted in the aircraft descending into the ground in bad weather, is that aspect worth investigating? Or do we just put it down to the fact that he didn't do a BFR?