Accident Details
On November 24, 2025, at 1529 Pacific daylight time, a Piper Aircraft Inc. PA-46-701TP (Fury), registered N646U, was substantially damaged in an accident in Provo, Utah. The pilot sustained serious injuries, and the three passengers received minor injuries. The flight was conducted as a personal flight under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Pilot Report
The pilot reported that he and the passengers had flown into Provo earlier that day and were returning to their home base in Van Nuys, California. He performed his normal takeoff procedure, configuring the autopilot to hold runway heading and setting the climb in the flight management system to an airspeed of about 125 knots with an altitude of 9,000 ft selected. The takeoff was initiated using the autothrottle button in takeoff mode. The airplane departed normally, and the pilot retracted the landing gear. At about 500 to 600 ft above ground level, he engaged the autopilot; a few seconds later, the airplane stopped climbing and began to descend. He checked the configuration and disconnected the autothrottle and autopilot.
The pilot stated that when the airplane reached about 7,000 ft msl, the control yoke became very difficult to move, and the pitch trim indication showed a full nose-up position. He attempted to move the trim wheel but could not move it from the up stop. The right-seated passenger tried to roll the trim wheel toward neutral, but there was no effect on control forces or the nose-up tendency. The pilot held both hands on the yoke to maintain level flight or descend, describing the required control pressure as extreme and unlike anything he had experienced. He believed the trim was stuck in the full nose-up position even when the indicator later showed near neutral.
The pilot relayed to air traffic control that he wanted to return to land at the departure airport. During maneuvering, he continued to exert high forward yoke forces to prevent the airplane from pitching up. He had difficulty slowing the airplane and attempted to locate and pull the appropriate circuit breaker but could not reach it while maintaining forward pressure. He aligned the airplane for approach with minimal configuration changes, targeting an airspeed of about 110 to 115 knots prior to touchdown. He stated that even on short final, he used two hands on the yoke and a knee to keep the nose down. On touchdown, he briefly relaxed his grip, and the airplane immediately pitched up, became airborne again, then descended back to the runway. The airplane erupted in flames after it came to rest.
Flight Data Analysis
The airplane was equipped with a Garmin G3000 avionics suite with a GFC 700 digital autopilot and a HALO autothrottle. A preliminary review of downloaded Garmin data by the airplane manufacturer revealed that while the airplane was at the hold-short threshold for runway 13, the autopilot was configured laterally in heading-hold mode. While taxiing to the runway centerline, the autopilot vertical mode was set to flight level change (FLC) pitch-for-speed mode. On centerline, the autothrottle was engaged as the pilot initiated takeoff. The airplane lifted off at 1518:53, as indicated by the weight-on-wheels parameter transitioning to airborne. Landing gear retracted several seconds later; flaps remained at the takeoff setting of 15°.
At 1519:11, as the airplane climbed to about 275 ft agl, the autopilot was activated and simultaneously the vertical mode changed from FLC to altitude hold. Beginning at 1519:26, the airplane entered a brief descent of approximately 133 ft with both autopilot and autothrottle engaged, vertical mode in FLC. During this descent, airspeed appeared to exceed the maximum flap extended speed (Vfe) at 15° flaps (147 KIAS). A reduction in engine torque occurred at 1519:41 with autothrottle still engaged.
The autothrottle disconnected at 1519:56, followed by activation in ESP mode at 1520:02. It re-engaged at 1520:04, consistent with protection against exceeding flap-extended airspeed. Multiple autothrottle state changes occurred during the flap overspeed condition. Vertical mode changed from FLC to pitch at 1520:12 and to vertical speed at 1520:44.
At 1521:28, altitude data showed the airplane entering a climb with autopilot engaged; pitch trim values increased nose-up. Overtorque occurred at 1521:08 and again at 1521:55. The airplane's pitch attitude increased from -1.1° to +10.7° over 23.6 seconds, reaching maximum at 1521:51. Full extension and retraction of landing gear occurred at 1521:35. A pitch oscillation of about 4° occurred at 1521:55, and the autothrottle was activated simultaneously. Pitch trim reached its maximum nose-up at 1522:11 and remained around there until 1524:04, then transitioned nose-down. Autothrottle was activated at 1523:39, and flaps retracted from 15° to UP at 1523:53. The vertical mode switched from vertical speed to pitch at 1524:15, then back to vertical speed 2.6 seconds later. The airplane reached a maximum altitude of about 3,280 ft agl at 1524:18.
At 1525:16, vertical mode briefly changed from vertical speed to pitch and back. Another brief pitch mode transition occurred at 1527:35. Pitch trim reached neutral at 1527:30. The pilot selected landing gear down at 1528:01 at an indicated airspeed of 204 kts, well above the gear-extended limit of 170 kts. Autothrottle was activated at 1528:03 with multiple state changes as airspeed decayed. Pitch trim moved nose-up following gear extension. The vertical mode transitioned from vertical speed to pitch at 1528:10 and returned shortly.
The descent for landing began at 1528:18. The autopilot disconnected at 1528:40 at 83 ft agl. A pitch oscillation developed immediately following disconnect, with a maximum peak-to-peak amplitude of about 12.9° over 1.8 seconds. When the pitch attitude reached -4.9°, wheel-speed sensors on both main landing gears registered simultaneous spikes, and the left main weight-on-wheels briefly indicated ground contact. The nose-gear weight-on-wheels remained airborne until 1536:41.
Aircraft Recovery
The airplane was recovered for a future examination.