Marty and Steve,

I totally agree, and Steve has some great suggestions, but in the present environment it is doubtful that any of those changes would be considered, let alone adopted. Given the state of "politics" and the state of general aviation economics adding time and requirements to training for the PPL is not realistic. I am a simple low time pilot with most of my hours doing low and slow within 100 miles of my home base. I've accummulated about 430 hrs in 20 years of flying. I am retired and my "schedule" doesn't set me up for "get homeitist". I think that newly minted low-time VFR pilots need to keep safe through the recognition that flying demands planning, practice, and recurrent training if we are to remain safe. It is up to each pilot to evaluate his abilities and stay within his skill limits. This guy had 200 plus hours and "some" instrument training, but was not IFR rated. What set him up for this accident is just another "classic" case of a VFR pilot continuing flight into IMC. In my opinion, a 60 Hr pilot knows that IMC is a no go and the number 2 issue to be avoided is running out of fuel, add in low level gymnastics and overloaded take-offs and you've got the bulk of what gets low-timers killed. This isn't rocket science, it's all about keeping away from this stuff through personal discipline. It is unfortunate that this happened, but it isn't the first time and won't be the last. In the end, its still up to the individual pilot to make decisions in flight and the only hour in your log book that counts is the next hour your going to fly.

Joe