Pilot, 21, pleaded with Florida air traffic control to tell his parents he loved them before fatal crash

A 21-year-old pilot was heard pleading for help navigating the low-visibility skies over Florida and then asking air traffic control to tell his parents he loved them moments before he crashed and died.

“I don’t think I can maintain my altitude without descending,” the young man flying a single-engine Cherokee Piper 180, which he had purchased just two weeks earlier, said over the radio, according to audio obtained by WUFT.

“How many miles am I from Gainesville?” she pleaded shortly before crashing at a state park there Tuesday afternoon.

“I’m losing altitude,” he told the air traffic controller before asking them to convey the heartbreaking message of love to his parents.

The slain young pilot was not formally identified in an initial report by the Federal Aviation Administration.

However, the doomed plane had been purchased just two weeks earlier by Adrien James Valentine, 21, of Melrose, Florida, according to WUFT, who said the young man’s father hung up the phone when asked about the tragedy.

A 21-year-old Florida pilot asked air traffic control to tell his parents he loved them shortly before he died when his plane crashed in low visibility conditions.WCJB

Kissimmee Airport Director Ramon Senorans told the outlet that the plane took off under visual flight rules, or VFR, which means pilots must stay out of the clouds and maintain a minimum of 1,000 feet above ground level. floor.

The pilot was reportedly warned that the destination airport was under instrument flight rules, IFR, meaning flying with visual references is not safe and must be done using navigation instruments.

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Moments before takeoff, the controller encouraged him to wait because conditions seemed to be improving.

piper planeA Piper similar to the plane that crashed.AlfvanBeem/Wikimedia

“It looks like it’s now being updated to non-IFR, showing some (clouds) at 800 (feet),” the controller said. “So if you wait a minute or two, we’ll be VFR.”

The pilot took off about three minutes later, according to the outlet.

But after encountering poor visibility later, it ended up crashing into the ground at about 300 mph. Rescuers found the remains shortly before sunset Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, the FAA said in a preliminary report only that the plane, whose pilot it did not identify, crashed due to “unknown circumstances.”

The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating the accident.

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Source: vtt.edu.vn

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