A pilot in poor visibility in the skies of Florida The 21-year-old American had to ask air traffic control for help with navigation shortly before he crashed and died.
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The young man even begged air traffic controllers to tell his parents that he loved them.
“I don’t think I can maintain my altitude without sinking,” he said over the radio from behind the wheel of a single-engine Cherokee Piper 180 he had bought two weeks earlier.
“How many miles am I from Gainesville?” he pleaded before rushing into the state park.
“I’m losing altitude,” can be heard on the audio recording from the local radio station.
AFP
He then asked air traffic controllers to deliver a heartbreaking message of love.
He died after an accident Tuesday afternoon at Paynes Prairie Preserve.
AFP
The young pilot who was killed has not yet been officially identified.
However, according to the New York Post, the decommissioned plane had been purchased two weeks earlier by Adrien James Valentine, 21, from the town of Melrose, Florida.
The director of Kissimmee Airport in Florida, Ramon Senorans, assured the media that the plane took off properly, stayed clear of clouds and remained airborne at an altitude of 1,000 feet.
However, flying using visual references is not safe and should be done using navigation instruments depending on the destination airport.
AFP
Before takeoff, an air traffic controller asked him to wait because weather conditions were improving. Three minutes later, the pilot started the plane to take off.
The poor visibility came later. It crashed at a speed of about 482 kilometers per hour. Rescuers found the wreckage shortly before sunset on Tuesday evening.
The circumstances of the incident remain unknown and authorities are continuing their investigation.