AGAIN?! Plane Crashes at West Virginia Air Show, Killing the Pilot

http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/567758/Tragedy--Plane-crashes...

The Journal...

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Tragedy: Plane crashes at airshow, pilot killed
September 18, 2011

By John McVey - Journal staff writer (jmcvey@journal-news.net) , journal-news.net

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MARTINSBURG - The pilot of an airplane was killed in a fiery crash Saturday afternoon while he was performing in the Thunder Over the Blue Ridge airshow at the Eastern Regional Airport.

"The aircraft was piloted by a single civilian pilot, who died as a result of the crash," West Virginia National Guard Adjutant Gen. James Hoyer read from a prepared statement during a news conference Saturday evening at the Army Guard Armory on Kelly Island Road.

"The plane was a T-28 aircraft with the Trojan Horse T-28 demonstration team, a civilian aerobatics group that tours the nation performing at airshows," Hoyer continued. "Pending confirmation of the notification of the next of kin through official channels, no identifying information will be released."

Hoyer would not say how old the pilot was nor his place of residence.

The airplane was registered to Jack Mangan of Cornelius, N.C. He is listed on the Trojan Horsemen's website as a member of the T-28 Warbird Aerobatic Formation Demo Team.

No one else was injured and no other aircraft were involved, Hoyer said. There was no danger to the several thousand spectators who had gathered for the airshow, he said.

"We were fortunate that the safety measures put in place by the Federal Aviation Administration ensured the safety of those on the ground," Hoyer said. "Right now our thoughts and prayers are with the family members of the deceased."

The show was hosted by the W.Va. Air National Guard's 167th Airlift Wing and the Eastern Regional Airport Authority.

An eyewitness said he saw the plane wobble after it had just finished a maneuver and then go straight into the ground.

The crowd immediately became hushed. Many in the audience hugged loved ones, silently cried and prayed with eyes closed and hands folded.

The Berkeley County Sheriff's Department had secured the area, and the FAA was in charge of the crash scene.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigator was en route from Miami and was expected to arrive at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., Saturday night. The investigator was expected in Martinsburg this morning. A news conference is planned for 5 p.m. today.

Several fire trucks and emergency vehicles swarmed the scene almost immediately after the accident, which happened at 2:32 p.m. near the west end of the runway.

"I am particularly proud of the response of our emergency personnel - they did an outstanding job," Hoyer said.

About four minutes into the performance, the pilot completed a knife-edge pass with another member of the team, which is flying the plane on its side while the two planes fly by each other, and was rolling back toward the airstrip when it slammed into the ground between the taxiway and the runway, which is at a bit of an incline.

The plane instantly disintegrated in an explosion of flames.

The other plane continued on without any apparent problem.

Hoyer could not elaborate on what might have happened. He said there was no sign of distress from the pilot nor any communication from the pilot before the accident.

He said he had seen the crash scene but added, "I hesitate to describe the crash site."

The rest of the six-plane team slowly flew in formation over the field for several minutes following the crash. They were diverted to another local airport, Hoyer said, but he did not know which one.

The T-28 was designed as a training airplane for the U.S. Air Force by North American Aircraft. They were built in the late 1950s.

The rest of the airshow was canceled, including today's performances.

"It's very sad," Hoyer said. "It was an opportunity for the West Virginia National Guard and the 167th to thank the community for their support."

This was the second year for the Thunder Over the Blue Ridge airshow and 167th's open house. Last year, an estimated 80,000 guests attended the free, two-day event, which was held over the Labor Day weekend in 2010.

Donations and some of the proceeds were to go to the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle. The United Way received about $100,000 from the airshow last year, which was distributed to charitable and community organizations throughout the Eastern Panhandle.

Airport Authority Chairman Rick Wachtel said the airport is closed.

The future of the airshow will be up to the Thunder Over the Blue Ridge board of directors, he said.

"The airshow is a wonderful event for the community," Wachtel said. "This is just a tragedy."

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UPDATE...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/18/us-crash-airrace-giffords-idUSTRE78H06...

Reuters...

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Astronaut Mark Kelly, Gabrielle Giffords' husband, was to fly WWII plane in Reno air race

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By Mary Slosson

LOS ANGELES | Sat Sep 17, 2011 9:33pm EDT

(Reuters) - Astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords, was scheduled to fly aerobatics in a P-51 Mustang in the Reno air show on Saturday, a Giffords' spokesman said.

The plane is the same model as the vintage World War II fighter plane dubbed the "Galloping Ghost" that crashed into the audience on Friday, killing nine people and injuring more than 50 others, Giffords' spokesman Mark Kimble told Reuters.

Kelly was in Reno the day of the deadly accident, but Kindle said he was making his way back to Houston after the plane crash resulted in the cancellation of the races, originally scheduled to run through the weekend.

National Transportation Safety Board officials arrived in Reno on Saturday morning to determine the cause of the crash.

The Reno investigation began on the same day that another vintage aircraft, a T-28, crashed in a fireball at a Martinsburg, West Virginia air show, killing the pilot.

The Reno and West Virginia crashes are the latest in a spate of fatal air show accidents in the last two months.

Last month, the pilot of an aerobatic airplane died in a fiery crash in front of onlookers at a weekend air show in Kansas City.

In Michigan last month a wingwalker at an air show near Detroit also plunged about 200 feet to his death as he tried to climb onto a helicopter in midair.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Peter Bohan)

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http://www.wvmetronews.com/news.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=47895

The Voice of West Virginia...

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9/17/2011

NTSB To Arrive Sunday to Begin Crash Investigation

Chris Lawrence
Martinsburg

Metro News: The Voice of West Virginia

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Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are due in Martinsburg on Sunday to begin probing what caused the crash of a World War II era vintage T-28 aircraft which crashed Saturday afternoon around 2:30 during the Thunder Over the Blue Ridge Air Show at the base of the West Virginia Air Guard’s 167th Airlift Wing.

“The aircraft was piloted by a single civilian pilot who died in the crash,” said West Virginia Adjutant General James Hoyer during a Saturday press conference on the base. “No one on the ground was injured and no other aircraft were involved.”

The plane was part of the aerial demonstration squadron known as the Trojan Horsemen. Hoyer says there was no communication with members of any of his people on the ground prior to the crash. The name of the pilot killed has not been released pending notification of next of kin.

“The investigation will be handled by federal authorities and local law enforcement,” said Hoyer. “The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office is now in charge of the crash site.”

The other members of the squadron were diverted for landing at another airport nearby. The National Guard chaplains and crises incident response team are responding to assist the members in dealing with the tragedy.

“We are fortunate that safety measures required by the FAA and the governed the air show were fully effective and no spectators were injured in this activity,” Hoyer said. “The safety of the spectators was or chief concern going into this air show, particularly with the events yesterday in Nevada.”

“All air shows have a required safety plan that includes a box for the demonstration to occur a distance away from spectators.” Hoyer explained to reporters. “We followed to the letter the guidelines laid down by the FAA.”

Hoyer said out of respect for the family of the deceased pilot, activities planned for the air show on Sunday are all cancelled.

Fireworks were part of the plan for the finale for the show. Hoyer said rather than leaving the large amount of pyrotechnics in the airfield, the National Guard planned a controlled demolition of the material later in the evening. He cautioned all living near the airport not to be alarmed at the sounds of explosions from the 167th base Saturday evening as they controlled detonation occurred.

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http://news.google.com/news/tbn/rxmHW3f8GnQJ/6.jpg

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/09/18/general-industrials-us-crash-wv-air-sh...

AP...

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Associated Press
Post-WWII plane pilot dies in W.Va. air show crash
Associated Press, 09.18.11, 01:50 AM EDT

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MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- The pilot of a post-World War II plane died Saturday after crashing into a runway and bursting into flames, the second deadly air show crash in 24 hours.

The West Virginia Air National Guard said that no spectators were injured and that the crash site was far away from anyone at the show. Still, air show officials posted a notice on their website encouraging those who witnessed the crash to seek support if they felt viewing it had been traumatic.

The crash occurred a day after a stunt pilot crashed at a Nevada air show Friday, killing nine.

"We were fortunate that the safety measures put in place by the Federal Aviation Administration ensured the safety of those on the ground," Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard, said in a statement. "Right now our thoughts and prayers are with the family members of the deceased."

Officials have not released the pilot's name. The fixed-wing, single-engine T-28 plane is registered to John Mangan of Concord, N.C., and was built in 1958, according to a Federal Aviation Administration registry.

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PHOTO: A T-28 Trojan

Yesterday's air crash:

http://current.com/technology/93451023_9-confirmed-dead-after-plane-crashes-at-n...