Jimmy M. Franklin

Piper PA-60 Aerostar (Ted Smith 600)

While departing on a cross country flight the aircraft was observed to have an abnormally long takeoff roll and to rotate abruptly to a higher than normal nose attitude. Initial climb was followed by settling with a high nose attitude and the aircraft crashed approximately one mile beyond the departure end of the runway. The main cabin door was found in the unlocked position and the lower half was found near the beginning of the wreckage path with impact damage. The top half was found further down the wreckage path and had sustained fire damage. The Aerostar has an observed drag and pitch performance degradation if the cabin door opens during takeoff run. A passenger was seriously injured while two other occupants were killed.