On Aug 19, 10:53 am, "Kyle Boatright" wrote:
I find it very hard to speculate about this particular episode until we know
the airplane's fuel state, the weather at reachable fields, the conditions
in which the aircraft was flying, or the training level of the pilot.

The relevant information is easy to look up.

For example, if the pilot wasn't IFR trained, he might have been in a
situation where he wasn't confident of keeping the airplane right side up.

That's true, but only if the pilot was incompetent. Simple cruise
flight by instruments is a required ability for private pilots,
instrument rated or not. A pilot who lacks basic required proficiency
should not be flying as PIC. That's especially true for pilots who
head to ACK at night, and especially when the destination is reporting
IMC.

Another example is that the weather may have gone down, leaving him trapped
on top without sufficient fuel to reach an airport in better conditions.

Nope. Wx archives are easy to look up (e.g. uswx.com/us/stn). There
was plenty of clear weather within 15 miles.

Besides, even if the pilot had gotten stuck on top, and even if no
clear weather was forecast within fuel range, it would have been
grossly premature to deploy the chute, if the pilot had known how to
keep flying the plane. Instead, the pilot should have contacted ATC
and gotten vectored to a safe location with emergency vehicles
standing by. And even then, the pilot could have circled until low on
fuel in case conditions improved in the meantime.