Wizard of Draws wrote:
snip

I'm not sure how a flight plan would have prevented an accident. Can you
explain your reasoning behind that conclusion?

I'm not sure about preventing an accident, but since I rarely have
anyone that knows or cares where I am, I like to let flight service know
what my plans are.

Of course, now I just file IFR...but before that, I usually did file
VFR. I didn't want to crash/land somewhere and have no one miss me
until I starved or froze to death.