(February 2012) At first glance the NTSB report seemed like a typical “non-instrument-rated pilot takes off into IMC conditions” accident. The pilot had accumulated close to 400 hours during the five years since he had earned his private pilot certificate, mostly in the accident airplane. He was eager to depart on a trip that he had been planning for six months, but the weather would not cooperate. Two days in a row the pilot had not been able to depart due to low stratus clouds that blanketed the New Jersey area. Finally, on the third day after his planned date of departure, the forecast held a glimmer of hope. Low stratus clouds still prevailed throughout the area, and the 300-foot overcast ceiling was below the published minimums for an instrument approach into the airport, but conditions were forecast to gradually improve later in the day.
The pilot was not alone in his desire to depart. The NTSB report states that several other pilots, including some who were instrument-rated, were either in the airport office or elsewhere on the airport waiting for the conditions to improve so they could depart. Shortly after 10 a.m., witnesses observed the pilot and his passenger fueling his airplane. At that point there was still a solid overcast at 200 to 300 feet, with no holes and no evidence of the sun starting to break through the overcast. Everyone assumed the pilot would return the airplane to the hangar after it had been fueled. However, a few minutes later the witnesses saw the airplane take off and quickly climb into the overcast. People in the maintenance hangar with a radio tuned to the local approach control frequency heard the pilot request traffic advisories from the controller.
