friend destroyed his Piper yesterday

[CowlFlapsOpen]

An acquaintance of mine crashed his Piper Mirage off airport yesterday. He and his family walked away okay thankfully, thanks to his quick decision
making, but the plane was destroyed. Aircraft never developed sufficient lift it seems, partial engine failure on takeoff. He cut the engine and did
gear up straight ahead landing in the runway overrun aross and clipping lights, crossing a road and crashing through a fence. FAA is investigating
today. Airport was Bellefonte, PA (N96). I was due for a flight with him shortly. Beautiful plane, always hangered. Dangerous business sometimes,
but it shows how training helps. he did everything possible it appears.

[alphaone]

Ouch... That sucks. Glad everyone is ok though.

[AKLupine]

I hope that the damage was mostly cosmetic in nature and that the airframe is structurally sound. While I would hate to be his insurance
underwriter atm, if the aircraft can be repaired it is a better place to be than his banker

[CowlFlapsOpen]

Sadly, the plane is little more than a burned out hull. Total loss. Barely recognizable except for the tail section. Among the personal effects
he lost were both sets of keys to his car, so he can't drive until a locksmith creates new ones. He is very grateful to be unhurt though.

[the_nick]

maybe he can sell it for old metal ( what is very sad )

[detpilot]

Wow, that's great they all walked away. As sad as it is to lose a plane (especially a beautiful PA-46), the important thing is the lives.

[jetdude43]

youch, im sad, it seems there is so many more crashes to nice planes than to ugly ones, well at least hes ok

[CowlFlapsOpen]

it seems that as he tried to leave ground effect he just couldn't gain power and climb. Never cleared more than about 35' AGL. He retracted the gear
and raised the flaps to gain speed, but no avail. I had been thinking that he shouldn't have touched the flaps, while so low to the ground because ,
while they clean up some drag raising them also reduces lift at a critical time. Most go around procedures say don't raise them until postive rate of
climb is established. But I read a bit more from Stick and Ruddetr today and now I'm not sure he diidn't do precisely the right thing,

[detpilot]

Usually, for a go around in a light aircraft you'll retract the last notch of flaps as they usually produce more drag than lift, but leave the rest
down. Perhaps it would have been better to leave the takeoff flaps in, but that is easy to say from the comfort af a computer screen. Watching the end
of the runway fast approaching, you don't always have time to think thoroughly through an action, and he saw he wasn't climbing with the flaps, so he
retracted them. In hindsight, it might have been better to cut the power and land back on the runway, even if it did mean going off the end, it would
have been a much lower speed impact. However, as I stated above, hindsight is 20/20, and nobody hurt is a good enough outcome for me in a situation
like that.

[CowlFlapsOpen]

Well said Brandon and, I hope everyone understands, I'm not trying to second guess him. On the contrary I'm quite impressed with his skill. Just
trying to learn from his experience. Coincidentally, last month's AOPA Training magazine has a description of a similar crash with a Piper Malibu
Mirage. Almost identical behavior and circumstances, except: That pilot was over weight by 400lbs and that accident ended in fatalities. FAA
determined that my acquaintance was well within limits.

[poden]

Good to hear everyone is OK. Sad about the plane. The Mirage is a beautiful plane.