Originally Posted by
piperp2
Interesting comments about the luggage and personal belongings of the passenger, I wonder what that weighed... Did it have anything to do with the apparent 3 attempts to take off or even influence a one pilot operation?
I don't attach any significance to those texts. Sala probably had no idea what sort of aircraft he would be flying on, so asking about bringing luggage would be a reasonable question.
Given that the Malibu accommodates six, including the pilot, I'd be surprised if a 300 nm trip would have limited it to 2 up plus bag(s).
Re the "3 attempts to take off" (reportedly a comment in a message from Sala), it has been suggested in these pages that he may have meant 3 attempts required to start the engine, which sounds more likely.
Edit: Beaten to it by the two previous posts !