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At the center of this tragic tale was Allen, a 44-year-old pilot who had been flying since 2007. He earned his Private Pilot certificate and, although he initially struggled with some check rides, he eventually secured additional ratings, including a single-engine commercial pilot certificate and multi-engine ratings. Allen had experience flying a Cessna 210—a performance-oriented aircraft commonly used for cargo transport. However, questions would soon arise about his readiness to undertake a critical night flight under challenging circumstances.