By: trumper - 21st October 2003 at 11:22
Here is a shot I took earlier in the day Saturday during the display. It is said to think that this Pilot and aircraft had only hours to live. My prayers go to him and his family.
-Lance Austin Pawlik
It’s a strange feeling taking photos and watching something that seems ok then a while later,it’s no more.It makes you look at things as if it’s the last time you will ever see or hear them,i don’t just mean aircraft either,you never know whats round the corner:(
By: Lance 147th FW - 21st October 2003 at 00:17
Here is a shot I took earlier in the day Saturday during the display. It is said to think that this Pilot and aircraft had only hours to live. My prayers go to him and his family.
-Lance Austin Pawlik
By: China Clipper - 20th October 2003 at 16:35
Wildcat loss, Houston TV news video report
Today, Oct 20, it shows up on top of first pg,
Topic “Pilot Identified” with small pic of wreck.
Click to go to video report from near crash site. Shows wreck on scene and being trailered away. Interviews and shots from air show also.
By: China Clipper - 20th October 2003 at 16:08
Wildcat Lost, Missing Man Formation
The Wings over Houston Air Show concluded Sunday with the missing man formation, a tribute to lost pilots. (see photo)
from: www.khou.com
Sunday at the event closed I heard announcer makje specific and repeated mention of the loss Saturday and pilot Johnson.
Our thoughts and prayers go to his wife and family…
By: China Clipper - 20th October 2003 at 16:05
Wildcat Loss at Houston Wings Over Houston Oct 18 2003
Here is a picture taken from Channel 11 tv website, one of our local stations… www.khou.com
(see photo attached)
(missing man formation flight photo in second note to follow)
Pilot killed in crash remembered at Sunday’s air show
08:45 PM CDT on Sunday, October 19, 2003
By Natasha Ghoneim / 11 News and Associated Press
HOUSTON — HOUSTON — Less than a day after one of their own crashed and died, pilots flew above Ellington Field for the Wings over Houston Air Show. The World War II plane crashed Saturday, two and a half hours after the show ended for the day. The plane was on its final descent when it crashed in a field along Clear Lake Boulevard about a mile away from Ellington Field.
The Wings over Houston Air Show concluded with the missing man formation, a tribute to lost pilots. One plane drops out of formation and flies west — Sunday afternoon that plane represented 62 year-old pilot William Johnson. A FM-2 Wildcat, a vintage World War II-era warplane, went down around 6 p.m. Saturday night near Ellington Field killing the 62-year-old pilot, William K. Johnson of Parkton, North Carolina. He was a member of the Carolinas Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, a nonprofit group based out of Midland that restores and flies World War II aircraft.
The plane crashed after the Wings Over Houston air show had ended for the day in a wooded field just north of Clear Lake Boulevard, between Highway 3 and I-45 in southeast Houston. No one else was injured in the crash.
“It’s the nature of the beast sometimes,” said one pilot. The matter of fact mantra amongst Johnson’s fellow pilots was, “fly on.” “We came here to do a job. In a way, we go up to honor those persons.”
Johnson’s friend flew a World War II FM 2 Wildcat, similar to the one he died in. The plane is a single-engine Grumman FM-2 Wildcat, which were manufactured in 1937 and used by the Navy in combat through WWII. The FM-2 Wildcat has a wingspan of 38 feet and can fly more than 300 miles per hour. That speed and size made it an asset for American fighter pilots in World War II especially against the Japanese in the Pacific Theatre. The plane involved in the accident is owned by Midland-based CAF, the release said.
Meanwhile, in a field less than a mile away, few seemed to notice as FAA investigators collected the remains of the rare plane. Not many people actually saw the crash Saturday evening. Johnson’s plane was one of six that was landing after a promotional video shoot.
“It’s the nature of the beast sometimes,” said one pilot. The matter of fact mantra amongst Johnson’s fellow pilots was, “fly on.” “We came here to do a job. In a way, we go up to honor those persons.”
Johnson’s friend flew a World War II FM 2 Wildcat, similar to the one he died in. The plane is a single-engine Grumman FM-2 Wildcat, which were manufactured in 1937 and used by the Navy in combat through WWII. The FM-2 Wildcat has a wingspan of 38 feet and can fly more than 300 miles per hour. That speed and size made it an asset for American fighter pilots in World War II especially against the Japanese in the Pacific Theatre. The plane involved in the accident is owned by Midland-based CAF, the release said.
Meanwhile, in a field less than a mile away, few seemed to notice as FAA investigators collected the remains of the rare plane. Not many people actually saw the crash Saturday evening. Johnson’s plane was one of six that was landing after a promotional video shoot.
Beth Jenkins co-piloted a B-25 that landed right before Johnson’s plane crashed behind her. “I didn’t know how close he was behind us when we were flying,” she said. “So, yes, it’s close to home.”
Johnson was a Vietnam veteran from North Carolina. He spent his career in air traffic control and he had airline transport, commercial and helicopter pilot ratings.
“That’s what makes this all so confusing,” said Ralph Royce, air boss, Wings over Houston. “What happened that day that was different?”
There are a couple of theories floating amongst pilots about what caused the plane to crash into the field. One is the plane got sucked into the turbulence of the B-25. The other pilot was trying to build distance to land safely behind the B-25 when the plane stalled, flipped and crashed.
Johnson’s fellow pilots tried not to focus on the crash but on the patriotic mission they shared, spreading the wonder of World War II airplanes.
The FAA could not be reached for comment about the investigation.
Air show officials say there haven’t been any fatalities during air shows in America for the last two years. The last fatality during the Wings over Houston Air Show was in the early 1990s.
By: China Clipper - 20th October 2003 at 15:44
Lost Wildcat and Pilot at Wings Over Houston
I was at the show all day Sunday… and have the sunburn to prove it…
Apparently it crashed (no fire) on approach to Ellington Field about 630PM Sat nite, after a photo op flight.
The end-of-show missing man formation was partly dedicated to the lost pilot. Another Wildcat carried on throughout the show.
The news this morning on tv showed the remains of the Wildcat being trailered off. I think it wend down at the south end of the airfield (where the NASA astronauts train and fly) in undeveloped oil land. Right near Interstate 45 and FM 2351.
The only recognizable part was a large portion of the rear fuselage.
I must have driven right near the site Sunday after the show when leaving, and not known it.
Cause of crash after air show (ended about 4pm) not yet known. I heard someone mention a rumor he may have run out of fuel… But NO way of knowing.
Online article from Houston Chronicle.com>>
Pilot died ‘living a dream,’ friend says
Cause of crash after air show not yet known
By HARVEY RICE
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
(see picture)
Bill Johnson, right, shown with wife Linda, died in plane crash in Clear Lake shortly after Friday’s Wings Over Houston Airshow. Johnson was flying a vintage WWII plane.
William K. Johnson died doing what he wanted to do all his life — fly a World War II warplane.
“One of the last words he spoke to me was, `Boyd, I’m living a dream,’ ” Johnson’s brother-in-law, Boyd Parsons, said Sunday.
Johnson, 62, of Parkton, N.C., died Saturday when the Grumman FM-2 Wildcat he was flying crashed in a field off Clear Lake City Boulevard as it made its final landing approach at Ellington Field shortly after 6 p.m.
He had participated in Saturday’s Wings Over Houston Air Show at Ellington earlier in the day.
The single-engine Wildcat was manufactured in 1944 by General Motors and is owned by American Air Power Heritage Group, but it is flown and maintained by the Commemorative Air Force at its headquarters in Midland.
Johnson had 6,000 hours of flying time when he joined the CAF in 1999, said Bob Rice, CAF president.
“Among his peers, he would have been seen as a very experienced pilot,” Rice said.
Johnson, a retired air traffic controller, had owned three vintage military aircraft: a PT-17 Stearman trainer, an SNJ-6 Navy advanced trainer and a British AT-19 Reliant navigational trainer, Rice said.
Parsons said Johnson underwent three years of training before he was allowed to fly the Wildcat for the CAF.
“His dream was to fly a Navy combat fighter from World War II,” he said.
Rice said Johnson had flown the Wildcat in several other air shows, most recently in Midland.
Johnson was the airboss, who orchestrates air shows, for the CAF Carolinas Wing. The plane was based in Franklin, Va., he said.
Officials said Johnson was participating in a photo opportunity along with several other planes when the crash occurred.
Authorities had not determined the cause of the crash as of Sunday.
A spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board said an investigator had been sent to the crash site.
The Grumman Wildcat planes were delivered to the Navy in 1940 and were used in every major naval battle in the Pacific during World War II.
(end)
By: JohnH - 20th October 2003 at 04:40
I haven’t been able to track down a pic on the net, but the Wildcat that crashed is the one that was painted in a gray and green scheme, in the 70s and 80s. I have a pic of it here somewhere from my Harlingen 86 trip….If someone doesn’t beat me to it I’ll try to upload it. Here’s more info also on the pilot and crash.
JH
Pilot killed at air show identified
By HARVEY RICE
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
Handout photo
Bill Johnson, right, shown with wife Linda, died in plane crash in Clear Lake shortly after Friday’s Wings Over Houston Airshow. Johnson was flying a vintage WWII plane.
William K. Johnson died doing what he wanted to do all his life — fly a World War II warplane.
“One of the last words he spoke to me was, ‘Boyd, I’m living a dream,'” Johnson’s brother-in-law, Boyd Parsons, said Sunday.
Johnson, 62, of Parkton, N.C., died Saturday when the Grumman FM-2 Wildcat he was flying crashed in a field off Clear Lake City Boulevard as it made its final landing approach at Ellington Field shortly after 6 p.m.
He had participated in Saturday’s Wings Over Houston Air Show at Ellington earlier in the day.
The single-engine Wildcat was manufactured in 1944 by General Motors and is owned by American Air Power Heritage Group, but it is flown and maintained by the Commemorative Air Force at its headquarters in Midland.
Johnson had 6,000 hours of flying time when he joined the CAF in 1999, said Bob Rice, CAF president.
“Among his peers he would have been seen as a very experienced pilot,” Rice said.
Johnson, a retired air traffic controller, had owned three vintage military aircraft: a PT-17 Stearman trainer, an SNJ-6 Navy advanced trainer and a British AT-19 Reliant navigational trainer, Rice said.
Parsons said Johnson underwent three years of training before he was allowed to fly the Wildcat for the CAF.
“His dream was to fly a Navy combat fighter from World War II,” he said.
Rice said Johnson had flown the Wildcat in several other air shows, most recently in Midland.
Johnson was the airboss, who orchestrates airshows, for the CAF Carolinas Wing. The plane was based in Franklin, Va., he said.
Officials said Johnson was participating in a photo opportunity along with several other planes when the crash occurred.
Authorities had not determined the cause of the crash as of Sunday.
A spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board said an investigator had been sent to the crash site.
The Grumman Wildcat, like the one destroyed in the crash, was delivered to the Navy in 1940 and was used in every major naval battle in the Pacific during World War II.
By: Arabella-Cox - 19th October 2003 at 23:42
What an awful tragedy. What an awful year. My condolences to the pilot’s family and all at the CAF. 🙁
By: duxfordhawk - 19th October 2003 at 19:56
oh my god
cant believe there been another crash my sympathies to pilots family what a awful years for CAF and airshows in general
By: Ant.H - 19th October 2003 at 18:03
What a bummer :(. My condolances to the friends and relatives of the pilot,and to all those at the CAF. This is a bad end to a bad airshow season.
By: JohnH - 19th October 2003 at 11:35
No the one in your picture was based in San Diego but it says it’s on static display at Midland. Here is the one that crashed, N681S and the CAF news release. I love the double speak of these releases, “the crash was not related to the Wings over Houston event” Huh????????
JH
CAF FM-2 WILDCAT CRASHES NEAR ELLINGTON FIELD IN HOUSTON
Midland, Texas (Oct. 18, 2003) – A Commemorative Air Force (CAF) operated single-engine World War II Grumman FM-2 Wildcat, N681S, crashed at approximately 6:15 p.m. (Central Daylight Savings Time) on Oct. 18, 2003, in a field near the Ellington Field airport, in Houston, Texas.
The plane was on final approach to land at Ellington Field when the accident occurred. The pilot of the airplane, a CAF member, perished in the accident and the airplane was destroyed. The name of the pilot has not been released pending notification of next of kin. The FAA is currently investigating the accident.
Based out of Franklin, VA, the airplane and its pilot had just completed a routine photo mission. The FM-2 was one of several airplanes that had been photographed as part of the mission. Although the airplane had flown earlier in Saturday’s Wings Over Houston, the accident took place two hours after the airshow had ended and was not in any way related to the Wings Over Houston event.
Officials will hold a press conference at 10 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 19, 2003, at the airshow press compound at Ellington Field. The Wings Over Houston Airshow will continue as scheduled Sunday, Oct. 19, 2003.
The Grumman Wildcat was developed in 1937, first flown in 1939 and delivered to the Navy beginning in 1940. The Wildcat remained in combat service to the end of World War II and fought in every major naval battle in the Pacific.
The airplane involved in this accident was a General Motors-built FM-2 and was purchased by the CAF in 1961. The CAF has one other FM-2 Wildcat (N5833) in its collection. That airplane is based in Long Beach, Calif., but is currently on static display at CAF Headquarters in Midland, Texas.
The CAF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to flying and restoring World War II aircraft. Based in Midland, Texas, the organization has over 10,000 members and operates a fleet of over 150 World War II aircraft.
For more information please contact Tina Corbett at (432) 563-1000, ext. 2231, or (432) 638-3846.
Sign In
October 19, 2003 at 10:19 am