In my case, I've spent so much time learning what causes plane crashes that I know what the risks are, and in light aircraft the number one risk by far is a cavalier attitude. With the right pilot there's just not much danger. With the right pilot even external factors (maintenance, weather) are largely mitigated. And this isn't to say that civilian pilots cannot be good and diligent, I'm sure most are, but the military and commercial airlines not only weed out the cowboys (at least after
Fairchild), but they drill a certain procedural mentality into their pilots.
There's a reason I could never have been a pilot. I don't do procedure. In fact procedure tends to really piss me off. I'm always looking for the better way, and in certain professions that makes people dead before their time. The difference between a good pilot and a bad one is that the latter knows in his head all of the things to do, and the former takes the time to confirm that they've been done before even thinking about getting off the ground.
As for the congressman, my way too early, amateurish opinion is that fatigue is likely what did them in. I think he crunched some numbers wrong, partly due to having just made a somewhat long flight, and partly due to go-fever. As is so often the case, this will probably come down to bad decision making.