PA-24 down near San Antonio

3000' for the Comanche, soon after take-off? With two younger kids one would think the performance would be O.K., but then there's the rest of the loading?

Very tragic for friends and family.
 
how was the weather out that way? Lot of stuff between us in CO and dallas today. Horrible news.
 
So sad. An entire family, just...gone.

The video I've seen shows no hope for survival. The best case scenario is that the impact killed them instantly.

Sobering. I flew with my wife and little kids a thousand times. That could have been us, on any flight... :( RIP.
 
There's a Mike Galloway who does airshow announcing and flies aerobatic routines in an Extra 300. Does anyone know if this is the same "Mike Galloway"?
 
On the Comanche board, a local pilot is reporting it was first flight after tail AD maintenance. Weather not a factor, engine running smooth and strong, aircraft entered a slow steady descent after turning crosswind on departure. Sounds like a possible flight controls issue, possibly trim, but unsubstantiated at this point.
 
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PeeGee said:
how was the weather out that way? Lot of stuff between us in CO and dallas today. Horrible news.
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Winds were southerly gusty to 20, overcast around 1500, good vis at Boerne, 15 miles away.
 
Tragic stuff. Yesterday we drove to Houston this time instead of flying. The weather was fine for flying though. If indeed something came unhinged back there as a result of tail horn maintenance then that's one tragic irony. We put quite a bit of trust in our mechanics to make sure everything is buttoned up together after maintenance. Now that I have a family I make it a point to perform non-pax validation flights before putting the aircraft back in service. No guarantees in life but it makes me feel better about taking my family up after annual or mx where controls, magnetos or oil was messed with.
 
So sad. Like hindsight2020, I will make it a point to at least always go up without family after maintenance. Hopefully the NTSB will find the causes of these recent incidents soon, so that we can learn something from these tragedies.
 
DrPappy said:
So sad. Like hindsight2020, I will make it a point to at least always go up without family after maintenance. Hopefully the NTSB will find the causes of these recent incidents soon, so that we can learn something from these tragedies.
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That has been my policy for 35 years......... And,,,,

When I owned certified planes, I insisted the mechanic ride with me on the shake down flight..... If he screwed up,, He is dying too...:sad:
 
I hate seeing these posts pick up on here when the weather starts getting nice.
Ugh.

I have ZERO clue about what might have caused this but someone mentioned it being post maintenance. I watched a video recently about some young pilots that had their plane worked on and the mech. accidentally reinstalled the trim reversed.

Nose drops, so they added up trim, Nose dropped more. The cycle continued until both pilot and co pilot were holding the yoke back. They managed to get it down but I can imagine something like that throwing me off and doing me in.

Good take away here is I guess that the family stays on the ground for the first few hours after annual / mechanical work.

This is so sad.
 
Kestrel is my home field. I flew out of there today and passed right over the crash site. Charred wreckage in big pieces...

Didn't know the fellow who crashed, I heard that he had only based there for a month or two. Kestrel can be tricky to get in and out, but I can only recall one other fatal in the vicinity of the airpark in the past 14 years.

Don't know if the maintenance was a contributing factor to the accident, but I'll second what others have said about being solo on PMCFs.

Felt sad all day, and flying this afternoon didn't help much...

Steve
 
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Very sad. I worked with a pilot out of Kestrel a few years back and thought it was a nice community. Sad for the loss of life and praying for their relatives.
 
Very sad. And while not anywhere close to this tragedy, I'm also frustrated by shoddy maintenance.

I was at the avionics shop two weeks ago for an IFR cert. I was told the static encoder was very old and leaking. So I authorized them to replace it, which they did and gave me a fresh IFR cert. Yesterday I filed IFR for a flight and ATC all along the route informed me that Mode C wasn't working. So it's back to the shop tomorrow to figure out what they did wrong. It was of course, working well prior to they're "fixing" it.

Be careful out there.
 
How sad. Media sources say the couple has two other children, ages 16 and 18.

My condolences to them, and may the victims rest easy. :(
 
May they rest in peace. I too am getting tired of seeing these. there seems to be a lot of them this month.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I hate seeing these posts pick up on here when the weather starts getting nice.
Ugh.

I have ZERO clue about what might have caused this but someone mentioned it being post maintenance. I watched a video recently about some young pilots that had their plane worked on and the mech. accidentally reinstalled the trim reversed.

Nose drops, so they added up trim, Nose dropped more. The cycle continued until both pilot and co pilot were holding the yoke back. They managed to get it down but I can imagine something like that throwing me off and doing me in.

Good take away here is I guess that the family stays on the ground for the first few hours after annual / mechanical work.

This is so sad.
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There is an airplane mechanics school here in Florida I wont mention the name but I attended an orientation to check out the facilities and they patch you up with a person that finished the school. I would NOT under any circumstances have that person fix my plane. Not in it because he enjoyed fixing airplanes but in it because it pays better then Mc Donalds the job that he was in before attending the school.
 
I hate learning lessons at the expense of others, but today I added this to my list of lessons learned: Never fly with passengers after maintenance until the plane is proven to be fit for flight.
 
It's being reported that the pilot, also an a&p, completed the tail AD inspection on his own plane the day before. The Feds have what remains of the airframe.
 
Interesting. I was in SA over the weekend and the local news noted that he was a relatively new pilot.
 
Rigged4Flight said:
I hate learning lessons at the expense of others, but today I added this to my list of lessons learned: Never fly with passengers after maintenance until the plane is proven to be fit for flight.
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I'd rather not be the test dummy either, but better than having my wife and daughters with me.
 
Yeah I also think when the times comes I will look at it differently. No passengers until I am satisfied after the tear down and inspection.
 
Preliminary report out. Evidence of water found in the manifold spider. No other mechanical or flight control anomalies mentioned.
 
So, water in the fuel?
Texas has had a wet spring so far.
Maybe this aircraft sat outside?
 
oilburner said:
So, water in the fuel?
Texas has had a wet spring so far.
Maybe this aircraft sat outside?
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Plausible. Some of the downpours we have had here (I am an hour South of S.A., by RV) would test any fuel caps.
 
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