Lancair Crashes RWY 27 Osh, Pennsylavia Based

[OtisAir]

Lancair touching down Rwy 27 dipped a wing and cartwheeled to a stop 150 feet from impact. Both pilots, unfortunately, did not survive. The aircraft is reported from Washington, Pennsylvania.

Surprisingly, many Osh folks here didn't know anything about it. The mishap happened at 9:35 Thursday morning.

Bless 'em

 

[Dave2]

My prayers go out to them and their family and friends.

I launhed from 27 around 11 am and never knew a thing about it. All I knew was ATIS said there was a 30 minute back up for VFR departures on 36L, but I decided rather than hold I'd get in the conga line anyway. When I taxied from the Nort 40 toward the runways they directed me to 27 and I was gone within 10 minutes.

 

[ApacheBob]

Lancair touching down Rwy 27 dipped a wing and cartwheeled to a stop 150 feet from impact. Both pilots, unfortunately, did not survive. The aircraft is reported from Washington, Pennsylvania.

Surprisingly, many Osh folks here didn't know anything about it. The mishap happened at 9:35 Thursday morning.

Bless 'em

What a shame. I also found it surprising that most people at the show that day did not know that it had occurred.

 

[TangoWhiskey]

What a shame. I also found it surprising that most people at the show that day did not know that it had occurred.

As I learned in my first visit (this year), this show is SO HUGE that unless you're standing right where something happens, you're not likely to know about it.

 

[tonycondon]

yea, last year the P51 crashed 200 yards from me. i thought i heard a weird sound but kept conversating. couple minutes later saw a cloud of smoke...

 

[n20junkie]

Its not surprising no one knew about it. They keep stuff like that hush hush, so that people arn't turned off from attending. A tri-pacer wadded it up this year on 36, no one knew about that. When the RV crashed and killed 2 people 3 years ago, that was hush hush also.

 

[gprellwitz]

Well, they don't hide it, but they certainly don't publicize it, either. Any more than they would if an attendee had a heart attack while visiting the show.

 

[n20junkie]

Normally when an accident happens, the trucks turn on the flashers and light the siren. Never heard a thing, only the silence of no arrivals clued you into the fact that something was wrong.

 

[mikea]

Well, they don't hide it, but they certainly don't publicize it, either. Any more than they would if an attendee had a heart attack while visiting the show.

I was there watching the air show in the 1980s when a plane hit the grass right in front of "airshow center," failing to pull up from an inverted spin. The air show announcer just stopped talking until a minute or two later when he asked everyone to get off of any asphalt to make a path for the emergency vehicles.

 

[skyflyer8]

A tri-pacer wadded it up this year on 36, no one knew about that.

'Twas right before my eyes. Quite a silence afterward, till the airshow announcer started talking.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

As I learned in my first visit (this year), this show is SO HUGE that unless you're standing right where something happens, you're not likely to know about it.

Bingo. It's not EAA trying to keep it quiet, it's that when you're on-site you're busy looking at airplanes and unless you were actually looking at the plane when it happened (or were near some other people who saw it) there's so much going on you'd never even notice unless there was a fire with its accompanying cloud of black smoke.

I'd have never known about the Tri-Pacer if Kate hadn't called to tell me about it, and the only place I saw the Lancair one was on Twitter. I haven't even had a chance to pick up Airventure Today to see what's going on.

 

[Steve]

I was standing right by 9/27 Thursday morning at 9:30am. I was looking at traffic on downwind and didn't see the Lancair go in. But I did see the smoke and the crash truck head towards it, the one stationed in front of Flight Operations at the north end of the WB area. There were lights and sirens, although there really isn't much need for them when you're running down a closed runway/taxiway. The ambulance arrived moments later, but there was nothing they could do.

I was in virtually the same place in 2006 when the Europa from WA went in almost identically. Same scenario.

I was at the north end of 18/36 last year launching a B-24 when the air race Mustangs collided.

We had a WB volunteer collapse from a heart attack just after setting up his tent the night he arrived.

You put that many people in one place at one time and the odds are pretty good one of them is going to have an incident/accident. That there aren't more is a testament to the participants' vigilance. Perceived risk is very subjective. I'd much rather be there than driving on the interstates in or near populated areas.

 

[OtisAir]

Not trying to be investigator honest, just wondering....

I'm curious what landed in front of it. I know when we were on base to rwy 36L behind a twin, I hit their wake and rolled 70 degrees to the right before getting her wings level again.

 

[n20junkie]

Ouch, thats a good theory actually, and would kind of explain why a guy that can fly a lancair got so twisted up.