On 2008-04-24, WingFlaps wrote:
A Lancair crashed just moments after takeoff here in Mesa, Arizona,
today, too. Plane was headed for California. There was smoke trailing
from the plane on takeoff and controllers cleared them to turn back
around and land. They tried -- they made the left turn but crashed into
the orange orchard. Three fatalities, all in their late 20s. Sympathies
and prayers to the families.

When will pilots learn to stop trying to do the impossible turn... and
go for a straight ahead landing on soemthing horizontal?

We don't know it was an 'impossible turn'. We don't even know what
altitude they were at, whether the engine was still developing power or
not, or whether the plane caught fire, or ... there simply isn't enough
information to condemn the PIC of this aircraft. There was obviously
enough time for ATC communications, so it's possible they had already
gained reasonable altitude from which turning around was eminently
feasable and not even difficult.

Define impossible turn. A friend of mine turned back from 600 feet in a
C150 after the engine ate a valve. (He kept the battered piston as a
soevenir).

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.