Fatal crash Arizona

Yes and no. Any competent instructor would NOT have pulled the handle at 200' in the conditions that were in existence at Samply Aguila airport the time of the fatal crash. I took off a few minutes ahead of Bob and my 200' countdown lasted WAY farther than it ever had before at that airport, and by the time I finally got that high I was out of range of a glide back, and my 17.6m Ventus has a 50:1 glide. Plus, the air down low was turbulent. I was uncomfortable with the idea of having to get back to the runway for a while after attaining that altitude. Normally, it looks like duck soup from 200'.

200' during a training flight in reasonable air is one thing, in gusty sinky air is another. This thread started out about an unfortunate PTT fatality, and now it has evolved into lots of opinions, math computations, etc.... all good for discussion, but there is / was far more to a turn around or go straight decision than just 200' altitude. Conditions (wind velocity and direction, rising or falling air, and turbulence) and distance to, or how far past, the runway end also fit into any scenario. 200' training has its place, when conditions and common sense prevail.

Plus, I suspect Bob's thousands of hours with engines that would help power around a turn and low time in a glider with no power to help probably / possibly had a hand in this particular event. Like so many things, we'll most likely never know. But, lots of folks will continue to want to throw in their 2 cents worth.

Fly safe.
Bob T.