Author Topic: Air show tragedy - (Read 2507 times)

Paxil · « **Reply #15 on:** July 16, 2006, 09:04:11 PM »

Confirmed dead. The plane was part of the static display... pilot took off to fly it home in California, was going to do a pass over the field before departing but never made it.

Funny the dude on CNN said it was doing a loop and couldn't pull up. It wasn't doing a loop... I wonder what makes people say stuff like that.

Captain Virgil Hilts · « **Reply #16 on:** July 16, 2006, 09:36:30 PM »

They say things like that because they don't know what they are talking about. Only someone who did not have any idea what they were talking about would say or think that aerobatics were being performed over a residential area.

moneyguy · « **Reply #17 on:** July 16, 2006, 10:00:18 PM »

i saw a father/daughter wingwalking team crash in Concord NH in 91 or 92. was sad. ~~to the pilot and his family.~~

Golfer · « **Reply #18 on:** July 16, 2006, 10:15:14 PM »

Ah yes the infamous sputtering jet engine. Those pilots and them revving their engines...when will they bring restrictor plates to aviation.

OTOH the pilot was said to be an Attorney. If I read the fine print there it's an owner/pilot in his toy that he's perfectly capable of flying until something goes wrong at which time he dies.

Hopefully he didn't take anyone with him.

Also...if I crash flying in an airshow. I'm not going to think to myself how great it is to be going out doing what I love. I'm going to be pissed and frantically trying to make myself not die doing what I'm quickly learning to hate.

Pooh21 · « **Reply #19 on:** July 16, 2006, 11:04:12 PM »

They said that the pilot was an attourney, but he had over 4000 hours and was certified as a trainer. He was trying to crash it into a field, almost made it but ran out of speed.

ROC · « **Reply #20 on:** July 16, 2006, 11:21:21 PM »

I was born in Hillsboro. Down in Sacramento now. Did that plane go down around the Jr. High area? Looks familiar.

Widewing · « **Reply #21 on:** July 16, 2006, 11:40:40 PM »

Too bad... Apparently the pilot tried to clear the residential neighborhood, but ran out of altitude.

The aircraft was a Hawker Hunter, a vintage second generation jet fighter.

Very sad...

My regards,

Widewing

flakbait · « **Reply #22 on:** July 16, 2006, 11:43:22 PM »

The whole story...

Pilot of a bright blue Hawker Hunter (1951 vintage) took off with the intention of making a single pass before heading back home to SoCal. On takeoff his engine failed to produce full power; he was wobbling and dipping quite a lot after lifting off, apparently trying to control the aircraft on the edge of a stall. He proceeded through a right hand turn of about 180º, straightened up on course, and the engine died. It could be loss of fuel, broken pump; who knows. The Hunter slowed up and stalled, mushing in slightly short of a field the pilot probably attempted to belly-land in. It tipped right, fell off on the right wing and impacted one house. So far one house is nothing more than a cinder, though no one was home at the time of the crash. Three near-by homes (neighbors) range from slight damage, either heat or debris impact, to one entire side up in smoke. Two people were in their homes at the time of impact (given on local news as 4:28pm) but not injured.

Aircraft was not fitted with an ejection seat that functioned (FAA regs apparently) nor did the pilot elect to bail out. Local video taken at the airport shows the a good portion of the flight, including takeoff and crash.

One local station hounded over this man's death like it was a carnival. May those tele-prompter jockies rot in hell.

A damn shame, for both pilot and aircraft.

-----------------------
Flakbait [Delta6]

Maverick · « **Reply #23 on:** July 16, 2006, 11:49:13 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Golfer
Ah yes the infamous sputtering jet engine. Those pilots and them revving their engines...when will they bring restrictor plates to aviation.

OTOH the pilot was said to be an Attorney. If I read the fine print there it's an owner/pilot in his toy that he's perfectly capable of flying until something goes wrong at which time he dies.

Hopefully he didn't take anyone with him.

Also...if I crash flying in an airshow. I'm not going to think to myself how great it is to be going out doing what I love. I'm going to be pissed and frantically trying to make myself not die doing what I'm quickly learning to hate.

Hopefully some one who wasn't there, didn't see it and only has 3rd hand information will be just as generous with your obituary as well.

SLCR · « **Reply #24 on:** July 17, 2006, 12:05:31 AM »

Here's a clip:

crash vid

He could of bailed but looks like he wanted to set it down in a nearby field.

-SLICER

Paxil · « **Reply #25 on:** July 17, 2006, 12:18:21 AM »

He overflew the field... he was heading South over Cornell toward Intel and there was nothing but residential and industrial from where he hit and where he was headed. There was a tiny field to the east of him but honestly... I think he was stalled at that point... no chance to make it go where he wanted. Thank God everyone on the ground was OK.

Kurt · « **Reply #26 on:** July 17, 2006, 02:10:23 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Golfer
Ah yes the infamous sputtering jet engine. Those pilots and them revving their engines...when will they bring restrictor plates to aviation.

OTOH the pilot was said to be an Attorney. If I read the fine print there it's an owner/pilot in his toy that he's perfectly capable of flying until something goes wrong at which time he dies.

Hopefully he didn't take anyone with him.

Also...if I crash flying in an airshow. I'm not going to think to myself how great it is to be going out doing what I love. I'm going to be pissed and frantically trying to make myself not die doing what I'm quickly learning to hate.

No pilot will ever match your prowess Golfer...

What a **** of a response. I hope no one calls your skills in to question if you ever dump one in. Sleep well.

expat · « **Reply #27 on:** July 17, 2006, 03:24:57 AM »

Bad news

eagl · « **Reply #28 on:** July 17, 2006, 04:33:04 AM »

Another reason why I'll never fly a single engine jet without an ejection seat... They make really crappy gliders and don't fail as gracefully as piston engines. I strongly dislike the FAA regulations on ejection seats, but I also understand that if the FAA allowed them, then we'd see just as many deaths from the seat popping at the wrong time as we currently see from guys who have no hope of getting out when the engine dies.

Pooh21 · « **Reply #29 on:** July 17, 2006, 04:56:43 AM »

Seriously I know real flying is different in a game, but I have landed some shot to hell planes in AH and Il 2 and one of my favorite things to do in FS2k was random engine failures. Why do so many engine failures in real result in death, my thoughts in ah when the engine goes is a flat space that I have speed to reach. That guy took off bad all that wobbling he had to know something was up,.