Mustang Tragedy at Oshkosh

I too was at the show but as the air racing routine was over I was concentrating on photographing the aircraft as they passed my position. It was only when somebody shouted that i turned and saw the fireball of the resulting accident. A very sad day.

Hmmmmm.

I don,t think the phrase “Amature built” P51a coins it too well.AFAIK Gerry was a professional
aircraft restorer.:(

I happened to be at EAA Airventure when the Mustang accident occurred, but did not see it and can’t add anything directly in that respect.

People have differing ways of looking at the world, and different factual and perceived personal connections to particular events. Of course thinking of the family of this lost pilot and their receiving this news is very sad. As for the pilot himself, perhaps he was just doing what he loved in full recognition of its risks, I didn’t know him and don’t know. In any case I really see no point in limiting discussion to platitudes though maybe I’ve just delivered some myself…or getting all over people who want to discuss the why.

Before somebody mentioned “Display Rated”. My keen interest is air combat history, I know much less about the world of preserved/restored warbirds. What if anything is the system for judging which warbird owners, or pilots designated to fly them by restoration orgs, can fly what routines at these air shows? Is this an international std, voluntary, formal, informal? How does an airshow (EAA or perhaps a Brit one someone is more familiar with here) design these routines in view of pilot safety, as opposed to spectator safety, and is this standardized in any way?

Personally I would be very satisfied to see warbirds up close sitting on the ground, and then simply in flight. I have been to Airventure a couple of times and am frankly a bit uneasy (on behalf of the pilots, not worrying about my safety as spectator) when the pilots ‘flat hat’, and come close during race or formation exhibitions (I know this was not a formation accident but was related to multiple planes performing at once then landing to make way for the next display). Of course again if this is what *they* enjoy, it’s not for me to say they shouldn’t. It’s just not necessary for my enjoyment of their airplanes, is my point.

Joe

Hmmmmmmm…………………

NTSB: Pilots Weren’t In Formation In OSH Landing Accident

Says Race Aircraft Were Landing Separately
The National Transportation Safety Board released Wednesday its Preliminary Report on last Friday’s tragic landing accident at Wittman Field in Oshkosh, WI during AirVenture 2007.

As ANN reported, pilot Gerard Beck was killed when his P-51A — which he built himself, using North American’s original plans and blueprints — struck the tail of a P-51D that had just touched down on runway 36 at Wittman Field. Both aircraft had participated in a simulated air race demonstration.

The prelim — which follows, unedited but for formatting, below — notes the aircraft were not attempting a formation landing, as many had speculated. Rather, it appears Beck may not have seen the P-51D’s location on the runway, resulting in the landing collision.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On July 27, 2007, at 1519 central daylight time, a North American P51-D, Mustang, N151RJ, sustained substantial damage during landing when it was struck in the empennage and fuselage by an amateur-built Beck P-51A, Mustang, N8082U. N151RJ had just landed on runway 36 (8,002 feet by 150 feet, grooved concrete) at the Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and was starting its landing roll when N8082U struck its empennage and fuselage.

The collision with N8082U pushed N151RJ onto its nose, and N151RJ subsequently skidded down the runway and came to rest about 788 feet from the initial impact point. N8082U was still airborne at the time of the collision, and it rolled over to the right of the aft fuselage of N151RJ and impacted the terrain in a wings level, inverted attitude. The pilot in N151RJ was not injured, and the pilot in N8082U received fatal injuries.

Both Mustang airplanes departed from OSH as part of a five-aircraft air race demonstration event at the EAA AirVenture 2007 air show. The demonstration air race was completed and the five aircraft were in the process of landing separately, and not in formation, on runway 36.

Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accid

FMI: www.ntsb.gov

We shall see what emerges but on the face of it the pilot of the P51A never saw the close proximity of the P51D until it was far too late to do anything. The view forward in the Mustang is very poor in the landing attitude.

I wonder what the view was like from the OSH tower where the EAA “Air Boss” crew were supervising the airshow activity. During the display period the FAA controllers hand over “control” to the EAA volunteer air boss team.

A real tragedy that might have been avoided so very easily.

Cheers,

Trapper 69
🙁

http://www.aero-tv.net/index.cfm?videoid=00b0d640-e714-4b79-b17b-6f3b0f149c4d

Less high-profile, but adding further to the casualty list over one of the most tragic weekends I can remember in recent time, two vintage aircraft were destroyed in separate accidents in the Irish Republic, one with fatal consequences.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0729/aircraft.html?rss

A sad time and a salutary reminder that all aeroplanes can – and will – try to bite.

It might be distressing for some – the video above shows the death of a person whom we may not know personally but still shared a passion that most on the board have.

However I personally believe that there are lessons to be learned and lives to be saved out of every tragedy. The Video will hopefully benefit a lot of us ‘amateurs’ in learning about the seriousness of warbird flying.

http://s145.photobucket.com/albums/r224/octane130/Message%20Board%20Photos/?action=view&current=800b4f88.flv

Video of the Crash.

Terrible pics there Tiger:( they do look a bit close together but that’s probably stating the obvious.
I’ve never been to Oshkosh but it’s the worlds busiest airshow isn’t it? Maybe the routines need to be limited?

Sympathies to the nearest and dearest of these wonderful ppl:(

http://flickr.com/photos/lscan/sets/72157601065523576/show/

A clearer stills set here

terrible

JT:(

From the TV station site:
“Schmid was trying to break a world record for a solo single-engine flight over 4,970 miles [I]by reaching Oshkosh, ..

Ah, sorry. I thought Mk12 was referring to the ‘Bulldog’ accident, not the Swiss one. Thanks for clearing that up.

Moggy

Here is a link to accident footage that I edited which was first presented on Aero-News Network. It is hard to watch………….. Despite previous discussions, it is pretty obvious what the circumstances were that lead to the accident.

http://s145.photobucket.com/albums/r224/octane130/Message%20Board%20Photos/?action=view&current=800b4f88.flv

Ok, I give up. You’ve beaten me.

The relationship with Oshkosh is :confused:

Moggy

From the TV station site:
“Schmid was trying to break a world record for a solo single-engine flight over 4,970 miles by reaching Oshkosh, Wis., where the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture is being held this week, in 30 hours.”

This crash was mentioned in the AP story used on the CNN and other major American news websites.

My heartfelt sorrow at the loss of these people… your passing leaves the world a bit less bright.

To those friends and family remaining behind, hold on to the life they brought to their work, and be comforted that they loved you.

This Oshkosh related accident seems to have been overlooked.

Ok, I give up. You’ve beaten me.

The relationship with Oshkosh is :confused:

Moggy

He will be sadly missed…

As Bruce said above, Gerry and his company (Tri-State) are major suppliers to the Mustang industry. Gerry was honest and provided solid opinions, great product, and was helping us in a P-51 rebuild. He was a great guy, dedicated to his family and friends and will be sadly missed.

Our sincere condolences to his family and friends.

The staff at Warbird Recovery

:confused: :confused:

Did someone say accidents come in threes?

First the News Choppers accident
then the mustang crash
Now this

AP) — A biplane stunt pilot died after he crashed in front of thousands of spectators during a Dayton, Ohio, air show Saturday, a day after another pilot was killed during an air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

WHIO-TV reported pilot Jim LeRoy of Billings, Montana, died on the way to the hospital after his S2S Bulldog biplane crashed at the end of a runway at Dayton International Airport in Ohio.

The plane was one of two making loop-the-loops with smoke trailing as part of Dayton’s annual air show. It slammed into the runway across a field from spectators and caught fire.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/28/airshow.roundup.ap/index.html

This Oshkosh related accident seems to have been overlooked.

Mark

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/8659567.html

My sympathies go out to the Families & friends of the deceased.

Can we leave this tread to those who want to pass on similiar messages a nd continue the debate on the rights and wrongs of historic displays elsewhere?

Wrong Aircraft!

It appears that father and son involved in air accident.
Link : http://www.nbc26.com

If Tommy looks at the site he mentions again he will see that the aircraft incident involving a father and son did not take place at Oskosh! But a T-6 making for Oshkosh had engine trouble and made an emergency landing on a freeway, with the traffic flow and filmed on the dash camera of a police patrol car which he overflew on landing. On the same newscast a report on the P-51’s interviewed pilots who offered condolences on the incident they had observed and made some observations. This is one of the better news channels and even mentioned a French pilot having to make an emergency landing in Greenland on his way to Oskosh and spending three days for rescue to reach him.