IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: CFFIH Make/Model: BE36 Description: 36 BONANZA
Date: 10/27/2009 Time: 1242
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: KALAMAZOO State: MI Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT ON TAKEOFF, LOST POWER AT 200 FEET AND CRASHED OFF THE RUNWAY,
KALAMAZOO, MI
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
...
This sort of thing I don't like to hear.
According a local news report, the aircraft was seen by witnesses who reported that the engine began 'popping' shortly after the aircraft was 'struggling' to get airborne. The aircraft then pitched up slightly while the pilot made an 'emergency turn' back to the airport, then went down.
I won't go into the technical aspects, but in the law of physics, there is something called 'potential energy'. With helicopters, there is a situation commonly called the Dead Man's Curve, which has to be determined prior to FAA certification. Basically, if you're too low and too slow, you're going to crash, no question about it. Same law applies to airplanes.
A simple demonstration test for pilots:
Climb to a safe altitude, and while still climbing, chop the the throttle and do a 180. Try it at various airspeeds and note the altitude loss at each one. That's your Dead Man's Curve. It's called that for a good reason.
Moral of the story: If you're climbing out and lose the engine within that curve, you're not going to make it back to the airport. The only choice is to pitch the nose down and land straight ahead, or with some limited lateral devation, depending on your AGL.
(For the record, I had two friends who did just that. One went straight ahead into the woods after picking two nice looking trees to go between.
The other put it down in a bushy swamp. Both aircraft were totalled, but the guys walked away unharmed).
