Fear No Evil: To Live and Fly Another Day, Fly Another Day

Most important obligation of an airplane owner is to know when not to use it.

Peter Garrison

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Weathering bad weather is best done by the book. [iStock]

Key Takeaways:

A newly certified private pilot, pressured by an impending international flight, ignored strong advice against flying his Cherokee in dangerous night instrument conditions.
After deceptively booking a hotel for the night, he returned to the airport after hours to fuel his plane and depart.
Lacking the necessary experience and qualifications for instrument flight, he took off, became disoriented in the clouds, and crashed 14 minutes later.
The accident highlights the critical dangers of self-induced pressure, disregarding expert advice, inadequate pre-flight planning, and flying beyond one's capabilities.

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The pilot, 43, was a Baptist pastor. He had a wife and five children. His private certificate was so fresh that the plastic card had not yet come in the mail.

He had devoted his flying to his life’s mission of “church planting,” that is, establishing new congregations in obedience to the “Great Commission” of Matthew 28: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” A director of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, he apparently collaborated with the International Mission Board. He had a reservation on a flight from Baltimore to Europe on January 13, 2023.