The pilot's name was Ross Grand and was from Prairieville, LA. He was one of the best pilots I knew with thousands of hours of flight time and over 1000 in Mooney's. He was my cousin and best friend. He and I owned an M20k (N5787C) together and sold a few years ago before he bought this one.
The survivor was his fiance, actually girlfriend he was proposing to tomorrow.
I'm writing this because he and I always said this would never happen to us, never turn around on take off when too low. It can happen to anyone in the heat of the moment. We both lost another cousin 8 years ago in a similar situation, but he stalled when landing in low visibility. Never think this could not happen to you! Apparently there was a stiff head wind from 360 on the field that morning, which quickly became a cross wind / tail wind when he turned. He was trying to make it back to runway 26 when he turned. All seemed to be OK at first until he was reminded his gear was up. Airspeed was low and probably on the threshold of stalling. We all know what happens to airspeed when the gear drops. His fiance is finally out of the hospital and I'm meeting with her today. I'll let you guys know if there's anything else we can learn from this.
RIP Ross Grand.
