The Piper Turbo Saratoga departed Dallas Addison Airport (ADS) a few minutes after noon on an unseasonably warm December day. The pilot did not file a flight plan, and his destination is unknown. At 1327, the pilot radioed Kansas City Center for flight following, reporting his altitude as 11,500 feet. At 1400, the pilot reported that he was descending to 3,500 feet. The controller asked the pilot whether he was above an overcast and needed a clearance to descend through it. The pilot replied, "No, we're on top of the overcast. I think we can get down through it, get on down where we need to be." The pilot's "we" was the Lindberghian one; he was alone in the airplane. At 1405, the controller, who must have sensed from the pilot's somewhat non-standard phrasing that he might not be instrument-rated, said, "If you're on top of an overcast and there aren't any big holes in it and we haven't had anything reported broken for the last four to five hours, [you] can't go through the clouds, so let me know what you want to do."
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