ok DU detectives, I have a task for you...

[mnhtnbb]

27. From the NTSB report, the pilot did not have a lot of hours and no instrument rating

ran into weather--needed the instruments--was flying VFR and ran out of luck. Plus, it's possible
she wasn't allowing for the downdraft you get over mountains.

I remember flying one time in the early 70's down to Cabo from Santa Monica--before it became a scene--with my boyfriend (who later
became my first husband) and his roommate--the pilot--and his girlfriend. When we were going to land at Cabo
he couldn't find the airport. I literally spotted it from the back seat and he laughed it off due to having his map
folded wrong in his lap. Right.

On the way back, we landed at Calexico for fuel, and I almost called my father to ask him to drive to Mexico to pick
me up since my parents lived just north of San Diego. I couldn't bring myself to do it (I was just 21) and when the pilot took off,
we had to talk him into gaining more altitude than he had planned in order to get over the mountains as you are
crossing to the US. Well, thank goodness he listened to us because we hit a downdraft and from my back seat
I watched his altimeter drop 900 feet before he could respond. And he had wanted to plan 500 feet clearance to
get over the mountains.

We did all get back in one piece. I was telling the story not long afterwards to my tennis instructor--who was a Navy pilot in WW II--and he told
me "don't ever get back in a plane with that guy until he has 1,000 hours on his log book." Why? Because given the errors
he had made during our trip, it was dubious whether he'd ever get to 1,000 hours. And we never had to deal with weather on that trip.