Tracy Turner and Kent Clapp Killed in Plane Crash

On Wednesday, a plane crash took the lives of Kent Clapp, chief executive of Medical Mutual of Ohio, as well as his fiancé, Tracy Turner and the pilot of the plane. They had missed their commercial flight and were taking a small plane to San Juan. Sadly, it crashed into a mountain when it flew into intense fog.

Could Klapp and Turner have made it to their destination if there were more safety regulations put on small-plane pilots? Could this tragic plane crash been avoided?

The fact is, flying a plane is much safer than driving, While plane crashes get much more media coverage than plane crashes, it is not because they are frequent. It has more to do with the fact that car crashes are old news. They happen all the time. That, and the sad fact that plane crashes such as the one that took the lives of Kent Clapp and Tracy Turner, are generally much more dramatic than car crashes. A newspaper is much more interested in a plane crashing into a mountain than a car crashing into a pole. They play on the public's horror at the idea of a plane crash.

We know that in the U.S., a pilot must be medically certified to fly solo. While this writer is no expert on the qualifications to fly in Puerto Rico, or if they fall under U.S. jurisdiction, one has to wonder. Is it possible that the pilot had some kind of medical condition that made him unable to continue flying? A heart attack, or even double vision? Did Tracy Turner or Kent Clapp have to attempt flying the plane on their own. There's no way to tell. But the idea does stress just how important the medical exam is for pilots.

Perhaps we need tighter regulations on what is considered a "legitimate" flight school. It is not at all difficult to find a flight school, but how is a would-be pilot to know whether their teacher cares about their safety? Flight school isn't cheap. They could just be in it for the money. Sadly, Clapp and Turner would have no way of knowing which kind of teacher their pilot was taught by.

On Wednesday, December third, 2008, a plane went down in Puerto Rico. It was carrying Kent Clapp, an insurance executive, and his fiancée Tracy Turner. Could this crash have been avoided by putting in place stricter regulations on pilots? We'll never know. But it's hard not to wonder.