NTSB releases preliminary report on plane crash in Rockingham County, Va.

Obviously, we all have various flight training experiences. I was lucky, large PT141 school, no busted check rides, no extra training, a diploma, ASMEL, CFI-II. Less than 400 hours total time, all in training, maybe a few pleasure flights in my local practice area.

Then I got my first job in KMTH, FL doing rental check outs and whatever primary students I could dig up. One of the advantages of the less than $200/week salary was use of a VFR C-150 for the cost of the fuel.

Somehow, I ended up well after the end of evening civil twilight in Key West,with girlfriend, no moon, departing runway 27 - over the ocean, had to get the plane back before morning, out over the ocean, sans any form of horizon.

I realized at Vr that this IFR stuff was no joke. Yes, I had my ratings,hood time, and Link Trainer time.

Staring into the black. I think "Startle Factor" and :Rookie Factor" hit at 100AGL. Then remembering I'm supposed to ever so gently simultaneously use Attitude indicator for an easy 25 deg bank left climbing turn, using the airspeed , and needle and ball, VSI only. No outside reference.

My first actual IMC, and I had my girls life in my hands. The climbing 180 degree turn to When I got leveled off at 3,000 ft heading down the now visible visible occasional street lights heading east gave me time to take a breath. I had successfully departed IFR and got headed roughly east and home.

That was over 35 years, and 20,000 flight hours ago, but it's one an important memory.

A simple unexpected IMC departure (I hadn't experienced a night departure over a moonless night over the ocean, nor had I even considered how different having zero references outside the aircraft after Vr was) The adrenaline was there alright and I learned that just because I had the un-blemished training record, I'm still learning something new quite frequently.

This sounds like VFR into IMC but we will have to wait for the final report. Standard private pilot instruction places and reinforces the idea that if you are not instrument rated and you fly into IMC, you will soon spiral into the ground. I wonder if this is a self fulfilling prophesy and this teaching actually contributes to fatal accidents. Perhaps we should substantially increase instrument training for student pilots and reinforce the idea that they can easily survive this with basic skills and prompt help from ATC.

According to FAA and pilot records, the pilot held a private pilot certificate. He did not possess an instrument rating.

Pat, I would like to solve this puzzle

An incredible challenge to deal with perceptual narrowing due to fear and stress while at the same time telling yourself not to trust the few senses you have left. Its not intuition that keeps you alive its training and experience.

Too much airplane - not enough training?

January 11th at night in Virginia, it wouldn't be surprising to experience icing in clouds at 5,000 ft MSL. Ceiling was at about 5000 ft MSL (3800 ft AGL at Bridgewater AP, elevation 1165 ft MSL). Well after dark on a cloudy night. What does he do? Level and climb while accumulating ice? Descend to below 5000 ft in the dark. He got himself into a bad situation.

What does he do? Cross his fingers that the ice doesn't bring him down? Descend to just below the clouds and pray that he misses the terrain? The sectional shows a maximum elevation in that quadrant of 4800 ft MSL, and higher to the west. Most is below that. Terrain just to the east is lower in a valley (ca. <2000 ft MSL). 4800 ft altitude might keep him safe long enough to make a 180 and get out of the situation. The wreckage was on a southerly heading, so maybe he was doing just that when he crashed.

Sounds to me like he got himself into a bad situation and gambled that he could get out of it by turning back before he hit terrain. But he decided too late and went too low. Maybe the clouds were lower than would be calculated from the Bridgewater AWOS and he descended too low for fear of losing control in IMC. His luck was not good enough to compensate for his decision making.

was a controller So Lake Tahoe summer of 1975 a crash every 2 weeks... density altitude.. downdrafts and turbulence every afternoon..Sunday departures a zoo... like this guy...relatively inexperienced pilots would get themselves in a bad situation.. Cessna 123, wind 180 at 15 peak gust 25, density altitude 9500 feet, caution turbulence and downdrafts over the last half of the runway....cleared for takeoff

know where you are on your map and note terrain. Matters not VFR, IFR, if you don't know where you are in mountainous terrain, the ground will rise up to smite thee.

Get home it is strikes again. Night, mountains, you better be IFR or very, very, familiar with the local,region.

Sorry to hear about this. If you plan on flying cross country, one should have an instrument rating.
Weather at the origin could be great, but the enroute or destination could be ifr.