This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this post will be corrected when the preliminary report is released.
https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N646U
- History of Flight:
On November 24, 2025, at about 1528 local time, a Piper PA-46-701TP M700 Fury, N646U, registered to AS Aviation LLC out of Santa Clarita, CA, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident at Provo Airport (PVU/KPVU), Provo, Utah. The pilot and three passengers were not injured. The cross-country flight originated from PVU, and was destined to the Los Angeles-Van Nuys Airport (VNY/KVNY), Van Nuys, California.
According to preliminary Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) data, at 1513 LT, the airplane taxied from the ramp to runway 13. At 1518, the airplane started its takeoff run from the runway. At 1519, the airplane entered a climbing right hand turn to an altitude 5,550 ft. At 1522, the airplane entered a right turn and continued climbing. At 1524, the airplane was at 7,550 ft when it started a descent back towards the airport. At 1526, the airplane entered a right turn, headed towards runway 13. At about 1528:50 - 1529:00, the airplane touched down on runway 13 and came to rest upright. One fuel tank was ruptured causing a temporary post accident fire than was contained by the fire department. One passenger was transported to a local hospital.
This is the first accident involving the M700 Fury type.
- Weather:
METAR KPVU 242156Z 28004KT 10SM CLR 07/02 A3017 RMK AO2 SLP220 T00670017
METAR KPVU 242234Z 00000KT 10SM CLR 07/02 A3017 RMK AO2
Comment from a friend, who is fully trained on the M700 Fury, from a YouTube Video Posted on the accident: "I do not think there was a pitch trim runaway or a belly-up landing. The pilot activated the autopilot below the 400-foot altitude limit, and then it looks as if he may have inadvertently selected Altitude Hold mode at only 275 feet above the ground, which would have told the autopilot to level off immediately, and not realizing the mistake he likely made, he would have been confused by a series of automated mode changes and alerts that followed. Had he simply disconnected the autopilot and cleaned up (re-trimmed) the airplane while flying manually, he likely would not have crashed, at least not on that flight. Instead, he kept the autopilot engaged for nine minutes and 29 seconds, nearly the whole flight, and he fought the automation that entire time without understanding what it was trying to tell him, which is that he needed to take over manual control. A review of the preliminary report from the NTSB leads me to conclude that the airplane's systems behaved logically and that the pilot never realized that a simple inadvertent push of the ALT button probably started the adverse chain of events and his extreme workload and resulting confusion as to what was going on. For example, he exceeded the maximum power (torque) twice, exceeded the published maximum flaps extension speed (Vfe), and grossly exceeded the maximum gear extension speed (Vle). He also incorrectly recalled that he had reached a maximum altitude of 7,000 feet, when in reality, the airplane never climbed above 3,280 feet. He also stated that he had engaged the autopilot above the minimum altitude allowed by the Pilot's Operating Handbook, when in fact, he had engaged it below the minimum altitude. Number one rule: fly the airplane. If the automation is doing something you do not understand, turn it off. Four people are lucky to be alive, but not apparently because of quick thinking by the pilot in response to an aircraft malfunction. Rather, this crash appears to have been caused entirely by the pilot, who possibly pressed one wrong button and then failed to recognize the need to press another, namely, the A/P DISC button (autopilot disconnect), which would have allowed him to retake complete control of the aircraft and land without further incident. The M700 has multiple systems designed to keep a pilot from getting behind the aircraft, but it cannot always overcome an incompetent pilot. The preliminary accident report reveals a fact pattern consistent with pilot incompetence, even if additional or different causes emerge later."
ReplyDeleteI did notice that my friend failed to notice that the 7,000 was MSL and the stated 3,280 was AGL. KPVU is at 4,497. So, the maximum Barometric altitude would be something below 7,800 MSL.
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