He believes that Das got around and definitely knew what he was doing.Īlso, Das received a first class medical certification in August 2020, the most difficult medical-class certification, one that is expensive to obtain.

San Diego flight instructor Christopher Sluka, who did not know Das personally, told NBC 7 that, based on Das' flight history, he wasn’t a typical weekend warrior, or even someone with a flying hobby. Since July 19, his twin-engine Cessna C340 made 25 flights, most of them between San Diego and Yuma, but he also took it up for some longer, three-hour flights as well. Pre-Christmas storm to bring up to 2 inches of rain to San Diego Countyįurthermore, Das appears to have a lot of flight experience. In the simplest of terms, an instrument rating means the pilot can fly a plane without seeing outside the window - or at night - relying instead solely on the plane's instruments. The certification allowed Das to fly more types of planes with fewer restrictions. Specifically, he had an airplane multI engine rating and instrument airplane certificate, something most private pilots don't possess. In fact, he earned a commercial pilot certificate in October 2014, which would have allowed him to carry paying passengers.

Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.ĭas, a San Diego County resident of the Fairbanks Ranch community, had filed flight plans for Montgomery Field in Kearny Mesa, returning from a trip to Yuma, Arizona, a flight he made regularly while traveling for his work as a physician affiliated with the Yuma Regional Medical Center.įAA records show that Das' flight experience and pilot training were well above average. Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox.

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