Ed,
This is all speculation. Once the FAA has finished their investigation, I'm  
sure we will know the cause of the accident. Even though the pilot was  
considered a rookie, 70 hours behind the stick of an airplane gives you a lot of  
experience. My guess is that something mechanical broke that affected the  
handling of the plane. Loss of power didn't seem to be the problem because an  eye 
witness who was working a few floors above the crash site saw the plane  
coming and the prop was spinning. 100 mph is plenty of speed for that plane to  
still be able to maneuver. I would guess that stall speed is somewhere in the 60  
mph range. Brad, any help here?
 
Rummy