They took off from a private airstrip belonging to the passenger. The people nearby said the fog was extremely heavy, so I'm assuming that he didn't take off in the only clear spot around. The article said the plane veered to the left soon after takeoff, hit the trees, broke off the left wing and rolled over.

If the engine died first, it may have startled or scared him, and he had no outside visual reference in the fog to keep it straight and level. Even if he had an artificial horizon, he may have not paid attention to it, his mental priority probably being trying to restart the single engine.

I guess its better to be dumb and lucky than smart and unlucky.

I wonder if his elderly passenger will fly with him again? Personally, I wouldn't have even gotten aboard if I knew he was using VFR and taking off in fog, and hadn't done his preflights. Kind of sloppy.

Sue