There but for the grace of god
I was at Sandown at the time, having flown in on Saturday, and was enjoying the sun at the beach with friends. I was alerted something was amiss by fire engines and ambulances screaming through Sandown, then a bit later by my extremely worried mother who has just heard that 4 people had been killed in a light aircraft crash at Sandown.
We departed at 6pm local, and could clearly see the still smouldering wreckage in a corn-field just beyond the ridge at the end of r/w 23. The crash site showed no signed of any marks leading up to it, and two straight black, wing-sized marks coming from a central crater, leading me to think it had most likely stalled and gone in vertically. I am sure the AAIB will do their usual thorough and professional investigation and we will all find out the cause of this terrible tragedy.
I used to fly PA28/140's and hated their poor performance, even in cold weather with a long runway. I feel very fortunate now to have an over-powered wood and fabric 4 seater taildragger which leaps into the air fully loaded, even hot and high.
I hope we can learn something that will help avoid accidents like this in the future when the full causes are known.
God rest the souls of those involved.