I guess it must be   

I agree.  His Proximity to controlled airspace at altitude was no bueno.  Rumor going around the ppg community was as such:

He was:

Self trained.

Low time guy.

Flew alone.

...

I reached out to fliers I know.  No one knew him.  But that was the word on the streets.

I know this is gonna come as a shock to you "PROFESSIONALS"  but there are some ppg guys out there who take the courses, get the training, seek wisdom from older respected ppg pilots....and obey the laws.  And then there are those that wanna learn everything on their own the hard way.  We call them Icarus-iz.

Sadly, these are usually the "particular individuals," to quote idiocracy, who bring shame to our game when they make mistakes.  Mistakes in our game are seldom tragic, but sometimes things happen.  Usually the degree to which is directly proportional to the lack of adequate training and understanding. 

I'd like to see that everyone be required to have lessons, ground school, and instruction in order to solo one of these packs on our backs.  The biggest problem I think, is not lack of a transponder, but lack of education.  I can see FAA reguation that would require a license and proper training coming down the pipe eventually, more than a required electro gizmo blasting out ads-b.  Although I'm sure they could build one the size of a flip phone for ppg these days, FAA would no doubt, be slow to implement it's use.