Interesting to see the aircraft was registered to an owner from Henley on Themes but based at Bagby.

If it had a janitrol heater it may have been leaking.
Either fuel fumes or maybe even CO if it was running.
I disliked those things.
The ‘66 I flew had it disabled fortunately.
With the owners having the disposable income for racing makes you wonder why they fly such an old airframe. Last Aztec was built in ‘78.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have one but for recreational purposes not depending on transportation.
Especially at lighter weights it’s a big baby on one engine, relatively speaking.

Some owners fly aircraft that are almost 100 years old. Why not fly a nice old Aztec(or Apache) for the experience and then move on to something else, etc, etc.

There is enough evidence from the newspaper image to show the stabilator is in one piece, as is the trim tab. The control linkages are pretty simple for an Aztec, I would be looking at the control continuity, but there is no external evidence of pitch failure. To lose pitch control on the aztec is I would postulate relatively remote scenario, either trim or elevator control run is sufficient to easily fly the plane. A jam is always a possibility in any control system, even iPads and yaw pedals etc.

You didn’t read my post very well did you?
Recreational yes, depending on it for transportation no as it’s too limiting with weather conditions.
Get a Cheyenne or a KingAir.

Hope not another Emiliano Sala situation here.

My company operated and maintained 'JW for a number of years in the 1980s, at which time it had been owned by the same person since 1974 and indeed he didn't sell it until 2019. He was very safety-conscious and no expense was spared in keeping the aircraft immaculate. It did have a Janitrol heater and as a licensed engineer myself I didn't like them as they seemed prone to breakdown and had to be scrupulously pressure tested as per the maintenance schedule. I preferred the Southwind fitted to earlier Apache/Aztec as I recall. In fact I flew down to Chateauroux from Southend one day in 'JW with no heater the whole way and had to wait until after landing to reset the circuit breaker, which normally resolved the problem. I don't like speculation of accident causes in advance of the AAIB investigation but I wouldn't disagree with your thoughts.

Regarding the aircraft's age I think it must probably have been one of the best maintained for its 'vintage' and I believe she featured in a 'Pilot' assessment not too long ago.

Actually, I read your post extremely well. Not sure why you would suggest otherwise.

You said “With the owners having the disposable income for racing makes you wonder why they fly such an old airframe. Last Aztec was built in ‘78.” which is a statement to not buy an aircraft exclusively based on age.

If you were suggesting that an aircraft be purchased based on capability in your earlier post, it would have made sense to talk about airframe capability rather than just airframe age.

That being said, I see the pilot was in his twenties, so experience may be an issue. Perhaps he was building up experience(and enjoying doing so) toward an eventual Cheyenne or King Air aircraft.

Poor young lad.

On the 4th of April 1976 I had a runaway trim on a Aztec VH-MBU. If I remember correctly the trim cable was a nine strand affair and seven strands severed and poked through the cabin ceiling lining. The nose went down and the only way I could regain control was to lower the flaps (way outside the flap limit). With reduced power and flaps I was able to make a safe landing. The Aztec had a large nose up pitch tendency with the application of any flap up to the 'E' model. Piper then redesigned the tail plane on the 'F' model to eliminate this. If I had been in an "F' I probably wouldn't be here.

Part of the redesign of the tail plane included small horns on the leading edge and these would love to collect ice causing the control column to pump in and out. Interesting to see the accident aircraft here is an 'E'.

The janitrol heater required careful operation and would pop the circuit breaker if outside its temperamental parameters. I never liked that design.

It was an E, 1971.

So you are suggesting the age of the pilot rather then the age of the airframe.
Right….

No matter how immaculate it is maintained there will always be 50 year old components in the aircraft with 50 years of fatigue on them.
I’m fairly certain trim cables need to be replaced every 10 years or so together with rudder cables but I’m pretty sure items like the flap torque tube do not.

Reminds me of the still in production, young(well under 50 years old) aircraft that have been grounded over the years after crashes. Comet, DC-10, 737Max, Malibu. Tried and true can be safer sometimes than newer designs.

Aztec seems just fine to me. One just needs to operate it well within its capabilities.

I genuinely like the Aztec
Capabilities of the aircraft and of the pilot.
Any machine no matter how benign can kill if operated outside of its intended, engineered and proven envelope.
Was this aircraft turbo charged?

No. While a handful of the 220 or so UK registered Aztecs over the years have had the TIO-540, only one of them remains and it's not this one.

The C model used rajay turbochargers, and was still a straight IO-540, the D & E were excellent aircraft, and the rest were darn good.

I came looking for a thread about this having just spotted a similar article in my local paper. All sounds a bit rum.

How very sad to see a young man die doing something he loved. I flew "JW" a lot in the 80's from Southend with Routair/Expressflight often with Alan Williams who I remember as a very friendly gentleman. The Aztec was a solid old bus of an aeroplane, but us humans operate in an alien environment up there which can bite hard no matter how good we are. I just hope the pilot was not under any pressure to fly beyond his experience or capability, thats all. Phil S.

Welcome aboard Phil - yes they were good days. I'm still in touch with Alan and have spoken to him about this accident which has saddened him greatly as it did me. I hope this new development will not result in wild speculation which will be to nobody's benefit. Definitely a case of waiting until the AAIB and Police investigations are completed I feel.