Plane crash at Kansas City Airshow

[Johnny_L.A]

Link.

A biplane crashed while maneuvering at the Kansas City Airshow. I watched the video before reading the article, and I definitely heard a crack at about 1:20 that indicated to me a structural failure. A quote in the article mentions a ‘pop’.

Incidentally, I’m planning to take some time off next week to start to regain my currency.

[billfish678]

I could hear the “pop” too. ISTM the response time wasn’t that great (not that the pilot didn’t die on impact).

[Johnny_L.A]

@billfish678

ISTM the response time wasn’t that great (not that the pilot didn’t die on impact).

I noticed that as well.

[BobArrgh]

I was at the airshow, but I was inside the old terminal building, so we couldn’t really hear anything like a crack or a pop. I didn’t think the emergency response was slow. I think the firetruck was on the scene in about a minute or two.

The ambulance took a long time to get there, but it was clearly a formality. When the ambulance pulled up, one EMT got out and went toward the back of the ambulance to (do something?) and the other EMT got out and walked toward the other officials. There did not appear to be any sense of urgency on their part, which indicated to me that the pilot had died on impact. Now that I think about it, the ambulance may have been there to support the firefighters and to provide assistance in case somebody got injured while putting out the fire.

I really do think the firetruck was there really quickly and was putting water on the fire immediately.

[Johnny_L.A]

Reposting from the GQ thread:

@Johnny L.A.

When it was mentioned in the MPSIMS thread, I said I noticed a delay. What I didn’t say was that I noticed the delay while watching a video on a couch, knowing that there was going to be a crash. From that perspective, it did seem to take a bit of time to get to the crash site. But I’ve been present for two airshow crashes. I was too far away to see the response for the F-86, but I was up front for the F/A-18. The response was immediate, but it still took time to reach the aircraft. When you’re there, the rescue teams are moving as fast as they can. Reclining on a couch watching a limited field a view and not hearing much besides the announcer urging calm, the perception is that it took the crews a long-ish time to get there.

@WhyWhyWhy

That pilot also hit the ground at terminal velocity and into a fireball. Nobody survives that so rushing things wouldn’t be prudent since doing so could add to the injury list. And I’m an optimist.

Even in an obviously fatal crash, I’m sure that the rescue crews are going in with the hope that maybe, just maybe, they could save a life. Beyond that, it’s important to put out the fire as quickly as possible to preserve any evidence of what may have caused the crash.

[Johnny_L.A]

Information on the aircraft:

Jim Kimball Enterprises of Zellwood, Florida set a goal of having a piston powered biplane with a greater than 1:1 thrust to weight ratio. I am proud to announce that this goal was obtained with the Beast! How? First of all with excruciating focus to detail in the construction, materials and methods used to build the Beast. Carbon fiber, titanium, and magnesium were used to keep the aircraft light yet strong. However, years of hard core aerobatics has proven that a welded tube truss fuselage is hard to beat.

So steel construction was used in the Beast with various enhancements of modern materials and bracing to guarantee maximum strength. The wings are constructed with wooden spars and ribs. Carbon fiber wing tips finish the primary structure of the wings.

[jjimm]

That’s very sad. And the commentator must feel shit about the “totally out of control” comment.

We lost a Red Arrows pilot the other day at a show. He apparently refused to eject to avoid hitting houses, and died for his efforts.

I saw them fly very low over the house in formation just the day before.

[Shoeless]

I had seriously thought about going to the airshow on Saturday (and taking the grandkids) and after hearing about the crash I was really glad that I hadn’t. It’s bad enough seeing something like that on the news - I can’t imagine watching it happen in person. Unfortunately, other than the airshow crash and the international news (Libya) it was a slow news weekend in KC so it was on the news pretty much all weekend.

[psychobunny]

Meanwhile, a wingwalker died at a Michigan air show. I’m frightened to go to see one.

[cmyk]

@psychobunny

Meanwhile, a wingwalker died at a Michigan air show. I’m frightened to go to see one.

Yep, sad news. I used to work right across from Selfridge AF Base, and would always get to see and hear the jets during training, exercises and the occasional show. Some of our friends we’re at that particular show, and had even watched him over the weekend during rehearsals.

[dropzone]

@cmyk

I used to work right across from Selfridge AF Base…

Thomas Selfridge having been the first person to die in the crash of a powered airplane. Not a safe profession.