An investigation into a late 2013 private plane crash that claimed the life of a MARSOC officer found that low visibility conditions and self-induced pressure to make the flight may have led to the tragedy.

Maj. Luke Gaines Parker, 37, died Nov. 17, 2013, when his Focke-Wulf Piaggio 149D went down near Kenansville, North Carolina, about 20 miles from its point of origin in Jacksonville. Parker, a member of Headquarters and Service Company with MARSOC's 3rd Marine Special Operations Battalion, had planned to stop for fuel in Kenansville before continuing on to Michigan to attend the funeral of one of his Marines, Staff Sgt. Ben Cohoon.

In a report quietly released by the National Transportation Safety Board in April and obtained by Marine Corps Times, the board found that Parker had expressed concern about a cold front moving in to his wife, Delight Thompson, the night before. Local television station WITN first reported the board's findings.

Parker left without filing a flight plan, the report found.

When he took off from the Jacksonville airport for a night flight, the weather was very foggy, a witness told the board.

The plane was discovered just before 6 a.m. in a wooded area about a half-mile from the Kenansville airport, resting nose down, the report found.

In a short findings statement, board officials said an investigation revealed no mechanical issues or anomalies with the plane, but noted dense fog and low visibility in the region where the plane had gone down.

"It is likely that the pilot placed pressure upon himself to make the flight because he was going to attend his friend's funeral," investigators concluded.

Reached for comment, Thompson said her husband was a meticulous and experienced pilot who had spent hours planning his cross-country flight and conducting maintenance. She said he had intended to file his flight plan when he stopped for fuel in Kenansville.

"He knew that route; he flew it regularly every week for six years," she said. "It was a very familiar route, probably something he could do in his sleep."

Thompson said she believed the report was essentially accurate in its findings. Parker had been very close to Cohoon, who was under his command, she said, and felt that missing his funeral wasn't an option.

"The sense of familiarity, the fact that his plane was in good condition, and the fact that he had to get to this funeral added to his decision to, unfortunately, take a risk," she said.

She described Parker, a veteran of five combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, as a man who loved his country and loved flying.

"We still miss him, every day," she said.

Share:
In Other News
Load More