Pilot Makes Tragic Mistake On Honeymoon Flight!

I hope others are able to learn from this tragic mistake. If you found value in the video, then you might also learn more from this video where bystanders were shocked seeing a pilot's fatal mistake: https://youtu.be/TfndgMdQ9Cg

My Dad was an airline captain. Time after time he saw friends retire from the airlines, buy a small aircraft, and then get killed in it. When he retired he bought a radio-controlled airplane, and lived another 30 years.

My wife asks me all the time why I watch these videos you make as she finds them scary and depressing. My response is, learning about these situations and understanding the gravity of these situations will make me a safer private pilot. Just great reminders to think first.

I am an Italian private pilot who flies mainly in the Apennines area (a mountain range, with peaks reaching up to 3200 metres). Every time I have to climb a slope at least a mile before I do 360 turns uphill until I reach the same height as the mountain I want to climb. Furthermore, I almost never fly inside narrow valleys because an engine failure in those situations could almost always be fatal. No one taught me these things, I learned them from manuals, from experience, from common sense and from the mistakes of others.

My first instructor cancelled a solo I had because I didn't calculate my density altitude and show her. I was furious because I was training in Florida at the time and never saw why it mattered so I thought I could just skip it for once. We had a long talk about it and she ended by saying "You have a license now but if you go rent in the mountains and burn into the side of one because of something I could prevent, then I can't forgive myself". Never forgot it. As an instructor myself now, if my students try to cut off the AWOS giving the density altitude in the remarks, I correct them every time.

I flew with Costas when he was a student and then got to work with him after he started instructing. He was a truly wonderful individual and a good pilot. I was crushed when I heard about the accident, especially because they had only made their marriage public a day or two before the crash. Living under 200 miles from Telluride and having trained jet pilots flying in and around the Rockies I was doubly crushed as soon as I looked at their ground track prior to the crash. Had he simply called me or several other pilots we both know we might have convinced him to not fly up that canyon. One detail you didn’t mention is that they flew the scouting flight in the morning and likely had less fuel and baggage in the airplane than during the accident flight. Flying in cooler temps, lighter winds, and at a lighter weight would have made it seem like the second flight should be fine. Since the accident flight was the first leg of their trip home I can only image they loaded up on gas and baggage and then departed for their photo pass on their way out of town. Just tragic that this wound up happening but he is not the first friend I have lost to a simple mistake in an airplane. I don’t care how many hours you have in any airplane you cannot get complacent and think you “know” what you are doing. Thank you for this video, you really did a great job with it.

I'm a retired medical doctor who owned a V35B in the '90s. I routinely flew my family into the Rockies for skiing and hiking. The first time I thought about flying to Telluride for the spectacular views, started to study the charts and plugged the flight into my rudimentary desktop simulator I said "No way!" Place is a death trap.

I knew Lindz in highschool, and we were on the same team for a few years. This is such a tragedy. As someone who cared about her, even though we lost touch in our later years, I still wanted answers. Ive read articles about this, but they weren’t very informative. While this is difficult to watch, thanks for providing more details and for your explanations.

That's my friend... miss you Costas. Unbelievably surreal to see videos like this popping up in my home feed... surreal in the worst way. He was truly the best of us... best kind of person. So kind, so caring, never judging anyone. He is deeply missed.

I’m an ERAU grad. I know him well from his work with the ALPA ACE club. He was every student’s role model: Starting the ALPA ACE club as a student, working hard at the regionals before being one of the youngest to make the jump to the mainlines. We were all so terribly sad when it happened. Such a shame to have lost such a person in such a way.

The minute you said Colorado, I knew it was gonna be a density altitude issue. This case was sad, but humbling bc it clearly shows that even skilled, respected pilots fall into this trap. Thanks for a good episode.

I had a friend die in similar crash, a high elevation canyon crash with his instructor. I believe you are saving peoples lives with these videos. Great work.

Your debriefs should be mandatory viewing by all pilots . I have 14000 hours and I’m still learning valuable information from these debriefs.

It seems impossible this pilot, with his advanced training, would end up crashing. Yet another example of the multitude of scenarios one has to take into consideration to fly safely.

When I was pursuing my ASEL, I talked to a retired United Pilot and told him I was going for a license. One thing that he said has always stuck in my mind. He told me to never fly a single engine aircraft that is normally aspirated at high altitudes in mountainous areas. I've always heeded his advice.

I am a skydiver and I have watched many professional pilots who fly big jets struggle to fly a 182 with 4 jumpers on a hot summer day at sea level. Just because they can fly a big jet with lots of reserve power does not mean they can fly the small prop jobs.

I’m a retired Air Force strategic airlift pilot and I flew into La Paz Bolivia many times, as well as many other challenging places. You become an aircraft commander when you are in your mid-20s, flying all over the world. I remember thunderstorms in South America that would frighten the most seasoned pilot. Cat II approaches into Rhein Main after flying all night over North Atlantic. Air refueling at night or in bad weather when you HAD to get the gas. And then there were wonderful places like Kuwait when all the oil fires choked the sky, Sarajevo when they were shooting at you, and wonderful Mogadishu. But flying general aviation aircraft into terrain is something I will never forget. Your aircraft isn’t a T-38, and you have to know your limits. My heart goes out to the families. These two has people had so much to live for. Thanks for making videos like this.

My pilot dad told me 50 years ago that the most important 2 things in flying are, the next 2 things. In other words, think ahead and always 'have an out'. That advice applies here and has served me well. I hope it helps everyone that I have passed that advice on to.

I evaluate pilots on a regular basis in an area that is considered mountainous. It still amazes me how many I catch who don’t know how to calculate Density Altitude on their E6B and how it affects their airplane. Thank you for covering this story Hoover.

Like they say; the most dangerous pilots are the ones with thousands of hours or very few hours. Always fly a little bit scared. Be prepared.