It was a plane, not a helicopter and he was flying in conditions that he was not rated for. The crash was totally preventable. Very sad for all involved.
16 in a phonograph? I had to Google that one. (Actually 16⅔, which is ½of the 33⅓) They were quite rare and were never considered commercially viable as they were mainly for spoken word, not music. My first record player was in the early 60s. My parents had a nice one for the time that likely dated to the mid-50s. And I have had many different turntables over the years. Every single one was 78-33⅓-45. I never saw one with 16 rpm.
It was a plane, not a helicopter and he was flying in conditions that he was not rated for. The crash was totally preventable. Very sad for all involved.