NewBloke,
We're not hanging him out to dry, but read the article and from the very beginning he was an accident waiting to happen.
He sounds more like a student pilot than someone with a licence.
Rarely uses the radio, and admits that he was a bit apprehensive about his 'first' X-C.
More interested in his readback than looking for traffic, even though his passenger warned him. (Who knows, if the guy in the Cessna was as oblivious, there could have been a nasty incident?).
Considers himself an 'expert' at his local field, so how much different can it be somewhere else!
We all make mistakes, but he seems to put the blame everywhere except where it belongs! ATC should appreciate people like him? He comes across as a big ego who thinks he knows it all. No one should be flying along 'fat dumb and happy' and not expecting a Learjet, or anything else, to appear. You should always expect it! I regularly fly in some of the busiest airspace in the world, as well as in more remote areas, I don't think I'd want that guy plonking around with his head down anywhere near me!
By the way, this is the first time I've heard of the 'Chrips' program. Is it a 'get-out-of-jail-free' card like the FAA version?