Originally Posted by
Sunfish
Am I right in thinking that a pilot cleared through airspace at a thousand feet would assume that such a flight path at that level was safe? If it wasn’t, what is the point of having ATC if you are not RPT heavy iron?
I assume it would have been safe if he was there, he never got into that airspace, he was in G airspace, he descended into what I am assuming must have been IMC and unaware of what was outside, into the ground well before he got to the airspace.
You are responsible for maintaining VMC in G, in this case, while in G he flew into cloud.
The pilot may have been mentally overloaded or unsure of procedures which is tragic and if there may be systems/procedures we can put into place to reduce the chance of such problems leading to catastrophe, (should a pilot be overloaded and out of their depth), they should be investigated but we are supposed to be trained and operate to a standard where flying VFR, we do not deliberately enter IMC.
Would you fly into cloud to make the requirements for an upcoming clearance? Surely you wouldn't. This pilot did. The failure to get his requested clearance was a factor but similar things happen daily without it leading to catastrophe because pilots take appropriate courses of action to work around it. This pilot didn't. Why? We cannot know for certain, and while I think ATC actions were factors the pilot's choice to proceed into IMC was a major factor.
Saying he must have felt he had to do it to comply with ATC even if it meant descending into cloud seems like a problem more at the pilot's end of the spectrum rather than ATCs, to me. That may include his training or perhaps his age/cognitive state.