RealGM

today, he was the pilot and his plane crashed after taking off from rock hill airport, about 3 miles from where i am now. crazy.

thoughts with his family and the bobcats organization today.

Wow.... this is why I will never, NEVER, fly id any of those damn dinky private planes. I swear a 100 of those things go down every year! Commercial airlines and jets for me please.

Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones.

how much of the team did he own?

RIP Beck. He played a huge role in bringing an NBA franchise to Charlotte. Prayers go out to his family.

Very sad, but it looks like he made the classic "low-time" pilot mistake.

I'm a pilot too and I wish I had a dollar for every inexperienced pilot who foolishly tries to come back to the airport when losing an engine on take-off. If G-d forbid that every happens to you, just keep the plane straight and maintain speed above the stall in a controlled decent. If there are trees in front of you, just pick a spot between two trees, open the door to prevent becoming trapped, and hope for the best. You will likely survive.

Pilots who try to bring the plane back will stall, since those turns bleed off a lot of momentum. Once a plane stalls, it no longer flies and goes straight down in a tragic ending. Especially in a turn scenario.

A former instructor lost an engine on take-off at 500 feet or so, whilst testing a recently repaired plane, and just kept the plane straight to a controlled crash in some brush. He suffered a slight back injury and his passenger mechanic walked away without a scratch. They both survived.

Words for the wise.