Yes, doctors are known for that. But it is a common problem in aviation among successful, affluent, confident people. They feel like since they have been good at everything before they are great pilots too. I train lots of folks like that and have lots of conversations about when not to fly.
Would this plane have instrumentation guidance for poor weather visibility conditions? If so how can pilots still make errors as to crash?
This problem sure doesn’t avoid the well to do or accomplished do it. You’re right.
Remember John Kennedy and his wife.
I’m not an instructor but I’ve seen the same thing a lot. That whole thing about watching the altimeter just blows by a lot of folks. Something about not really being able to live/function well in three dimensions it seems. I like to ask people how well they did in geometry before I trust them with powerful machinery.
When not to fly:
These folks were in a hurry to get to Florida and tried to beat out a really impressive roll cloud associated with an arriving front. We were headed into Champaign for church from the west & I would have stopped along the freeway and taken its picture if I would have remembered my camera. Maybe he didn’t know that the wind from the downdraft is not visible and arrives before the cloud.
“Buerkett, an instrument-rated pilot with 20 years’ experience, was piloting his single-engine Piper PA 46 Mirage. Upon takeoff from its home base at Rantoul Airport, about 125 miles southwest of Chicago, the plane ran into wind shear.
An eyewitness said the tail flipped up and the aircraft began to plummet nose-first, then struck a power line. Upon hitting the ground, the plane burst into flames, leaving wreckage strewn about the crash site.
Local officials said high winds and rain had suddenly moved into the area. Friends described Buerkett as a cautious and meticulous pilot who would not knowingly fly in severe weather. An eyewitness said Buerkett was attempting to depart before the weather system arrived but rain had just started at about the time of takeoff.”
- See more at: http://www.vendingtimes.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?nm=Vending+Features&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&tier=4&id=80D577A4E5534BC8BFEC8FDAF609B757#sthash.uo0ldujK.dpuf