He mentions pressing on because he could always turn back to clear weather.
Just because you left clear skies behind, doesn’t mean there will be clear skies if you turn around.
One thing I reacted to was that the weather didn’t make me flinch. At all. To me, that’s good weather! But that’s me in a Dash8 thinking. I better not bring that with me, should I go fly a Single engine light, one day. Professional airline pilots can be really over confident if you put them back in a C172. Not that this guy had a problem with that. Just my reflection about me, reading the METARs in the video.
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That was the ‘gotcha’ that got me…
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Interesting info on the helicopter crash involving Kobe Bryant:
The relevant bit to this conversation is abut 60% of the way down starting with the section “Going Inadvertent IMC Is Easier Than You Think”.
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An experienced pilot could clearly see if from the transcript. First, he had to circle outside Class D over the interstate awaiting a special VFR clearance in. He circled nearly a dozen times. That, in most humans at least, heightens the frustration and sense of urgency. While he’s waiting the controller tells him that he is too low for flight following (no secondary target). That, and the requirement to stay in VMC, created a need to climb, turn back or go IFR. He mentioned that he needed to get above a cloud layer. Flying VFR between scattered or broken layers is possible in good visibility. It’s impossible in poor visibility. There’s just no way to tell cloud from mist. I totally sympathize with him and how he allowed the situation to sneak up on him. The hairs on the back of his head probably began to stand several times before things actually began to fall apart. That slow, sneaky crawl with a layering of bad circumstances mixed with a further layering of bad choices is one I recognize having been there several times.
I just recalled the latest time this happened to me. I was at the Green Mountain Aerobatic Contest in Springfield, VT. The contested ended in lowering VFR conditions on Sunday. As the contest name suggested, I had mountains to contend with in order to get back to New Jersey. As I progressed south the tops became obscured. I then made a decision that I have always said that I would never make. I decided the fly down an interstate pass with mountains on either side and many of the ridges already in lowering cloud. I was stressed but continued to press on reminding myself that I was making bigger and bigger bad choices. I gave up and landed at a private ski resort airport in a gale. The winds were so bad that I had to drag the Pitts into the grass and face it into the wind. I went to the little building that served as the terminal but it was locked. On the wall was a sign with landing fees. The cheapest was $200! The place was entirely deserted. I didn’t care about the weather. I cared about that stupid landing fee should anyone official find me. So I made the final good/bad decision and launched down the same mountain valley and back to Springfield. I few other pilots ended up back there as well. We went to a bar, watched the World Cup and got good and proper drunk. (Who does God look after?) 
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That’s a great recounting of the events… I’ve shut down planes before and had to sit and exhale a bit. Red line logbook entries (means a significant event in my logbook)…ah…good times…(after the fact)… 
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And then you have the folks who get paid to go out into the worst of it:
Full disclosure, he’s my big brother 
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That is awesome - I just listened to the book on tape “The Great Deluge” by Douglas Brinkley. The book is full of scathing indictments about all manner of things (regarding Katrina)…but the author goes out of his way to say one of the few shining examples of an organization that really rose to the task was the U.S. Coast Guard.
We saw the same thing during Harvey…tireless work and such a dedication to their duty. Congrats to your big brother for well deserved recognition! I’ll bet he has some hair raising stories!
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W00T! Congratz man! 
Just goes to show that with good training and good people, good things happen!
Awesome!
Deserves every medal he gets!
I’m a little brother too… 
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When flying routinely in the worst weather the UK has to offer I found a weeks holiday was enough to lose the edge. Two weeks and I was no way proficient. This was me taxiing to the hangar at Aberdeen Scotland
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