A couple of months ago, I discussed the crash of a small plane in Colonie, New York, a suburb of Albany. I wrote two articles. The first time around, I brought up pilot incompetence as a cause. I stand behind that article. However, in a follow-up article that alleged drugs or alcohol could have been a cause, I was wrong.
Albany’s NBC affiliate, WNYT, just reported that a toxicology report showed that neither alcohol nor drugs were found in the corpse of Canadian pilot Natalie Gillis, who was flying a private plane. That plane crashed very soon after taking off. Now, I’m enough of a man to admit that I was wrong about the drugs and alcohol, something that I alleged in that follow-up article.
Now, I was wrong about the drugs or alcohol. I admit that. But I stand by what I wrote before: pilot incompetence is the only possibility left given that the NTSB wrote in a preliminary report that there were no mechanical issues with the plane, so that excuse is out. And surely Gillis would have done a pre-flight checklist. If she did, she might have caught whatever it is that happened.
Given that, until proven otherwise, I consider Gillis to be an incompetent pilot who brought the crash upon herself. I don’t feel sorry for her at all.
Like I said, I was wrong about the drugs and alcohol, but I stand behind everything else that I wrote.