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 new private pilot, under pressure to make an international flight, ignored strong advice from an experienced pilot and adverse weather warnings.
Despite being told not to fly due to rain, impending darkness, and his inexperience, he departed at night into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC).
Lacking sufficient instrument and night flying experience, the pilot became disoriented shortly after takeoff and crashed 14 minutes into the flight.
The incident underscores the critical importance of a pilot knowing their limitations, heeding expert advice, and prioritizing safety over self-imposed pressure.

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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.