The first part of the flight was peaceable enough. It was just two hours from Savannah, Georgia, to White Plains, New York, with two passengers (one a spry 95 years of age, delightful smile included) and plenty of gas. The weather at the destination was the only wrinkle in the silk fabric of a perfect day. KHPN was showing quarter-mile visibility and 200 vertical visibility, but things were forecast to improve to 600 and a half-mile about the time we were to get there. We needed three-eighths-mile visibility or RVR of 1,800 feet to start the approach.
We kept abreast of the metars as we shuffled along at Flight Level 410 at 440 knots. Things weren’t getting any better, so Capt. Bruce Stewart, who was the pilot monitoring, went back to discuss alternates with the mother-daughter passenger combo. Teterboro, New Jersey, was slightly better, as was Stewart, New York. Both were showing 200 and half-mile visibility. But, understandably, our passengers wanted to get home without a long drive.
