PHOTOS-Mike Connell, Witness in Bush/Rove Vote Tampering, Dies in Plane Crash (Michael Connell)
8 January 2009, 14:11, by pioneerpilot
The Piper Saratoga that Mike was flying was his own airplane, a 1997 model. This is a top of the line single engine with turbo motor with all the bells and whistles regarding navigation, auto pilot, the works. Mike had over 500 hours of flight experience. He was not a beginner. We can be fairly certain that he was familiar with the systems in this airplane which included anti-icing equipment. He asked about reports of icing. Received an answer to the negative. It takes some time for ice to develop and if it did, he had anti-icing equipment and some time to notice its buildup. The Saratoga is a low-wing airplane and Mike would have clearly seen any ice buildup.
He was experiencing a left of center deviation on the approach that he did not seem to be able to correct. I find this puzzling. The winds were not that strong and he should have been able to make the correction easily. Why not?
He also declared an emergency while climbing out from the missed approach. Too bad he didn’t say what the emergency was, or didn’t he?
Where are the ATC tapes?
Oh by the way, wasn’t a Saratoga the plane that John Kennedy Jr. also "fell from the sky" in?
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The Piper Saratoga that Mike was flying was his own airplane, a 1997 model. This is a top of the line single engine with turbo motor with all the bells and whistles regarding navigation, auto pilot, the works. Mike had over 500 hours of flight experience. He was not a beginner. We can be fairly certain that he was familiar with the systems in this airplane which included anti-icing equipment. He asked about reports of icing. Received an answer to the negative. It takes some time for ice to develop and if it did, he had anti-icing equipment and some time to notice its buildup. The Saratoga is a low-wing airplane and Mike would have clearly seen any ice buildup.
He was experiencing a left of center deviation on the approach that he did not seem to be able to correct. I find this puzzling. The winds were not that strong and he should have been able to make the correction easily. Why not?
He also declared an emergency while climbing out from the missed approach. Too bad he didn’t say what the emergency was, or didn’t he?
Where are the ATC tapes?
Oh by the way, wasn’t a Saratoga the plane that John Kennedy Jr. also "fell from the sky" in?
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