The Tragic Passing of Mike Connell

He was a family man with a wife and four children. He was coming back to Ohio from a trip to Washington, DC in his Piper Saratoga. Ahead was a swift-moving cold front with possible wind shear and icing. Tragically, Mike Connell crashed three miles short of the Akron-Canton airport and this family man and computer expert for the GOP was lost a week before Christmas.

Enter lefty blogger Larisa Alexandrovna:

I am not saying that this was a hit nor am I resigned to this being simply an accident either. I am no expert on aviation and cannot provide an opinion on the matter. What I am saying, however, is that given the context, this event needs to be examined carefully.

Keep in mind that she, along with others, are still fighting to prove the 2004 elections were stolen in Ohio by Karl Rove. Her source first said the plane "ran out of gas", which evidently she thought fit the profile for a Rove hit since Connell was set to testify in a case brought by a group called Velvet Revolution. She then corrected herself in an "update":

1. Connell may not have run out of gas, but may have hit an ice patch. The initial call I got described him running out of gas. That is no longer what is said to have happened.

2. The problem with that is - as I just learned - his plane was "equipped to deal with ice on all key surfaces," like wings for example. Remember, I am not an expert on aviation or even mildly informed on different types of planes. So I will add to this when I get more information relating to the actual plane and its abilities, specs, etc.

Depending on the type of Saratoga it may have had some de-icing features but most are not rated for flight into known icing conditions. That's *IF* icing was a factor. Clearly her source was speculating based on the earlier information.

Here are the weather sequences from the Akron-Canton airport around the reported time of the crash:

• KCAK 200051Z 30009KT 6SM BR OVC004 M01/M02 A2989 RMK AO2 SLP133 T10111022
• KCAK 192351Z 32013KT 3SM BR OVC003 01/M01 A2984 RMK AO2 SLP116 8/6// T00061011 10072 20006 51059
• KCAK 192315Z 29011KT 1 1/2SM BR OVC004 01/M01 A2981 RMK AO2 PRESRR

Visibility (1 1/2SM BR= 1 and 1/2 miles in mist) had dropped, ceiling (overcast at 400 feet) had dropped, and the ground temperature was 34 degrees (01). Icing sounds possible--the NTSB will have a good idea on it soon--but if icing was indeed responsible the chances of a Karl Rove "hit" advance to nil. Not even Rove can arrange something like that, unless of course he's still got that weather machine plugged in somewhere.

If not, then maybe Obama can jump right on it, perhaps even including a deeper investigation into ACORN and the voter registration fraud that occurred in Ohio this year.