plane down in enid OK. fatalities

Very sad,it's been a bad month in aviation.
 
I hate introverted airplanes.... They are always so quiet.


Hope it was quick for them. Sounds like they were having a good time and lost it.
 
Sad, it's been a bad few weeks. :(
 
It does suck.... But it's not been a bad few weeks; seems like it's been a bad few years.
 
That's what Facebook is saying that it was bearfeat
 
Vance AFB has an "open house" and airshow this weekend, featuring the Thunderbirds. My first thought was that this was possibly one of the performers, but I haven't seen any additional info to qualify that thought.
 
DrewG said:
Vance AFB has an "open house" and airshow this weekend, featuring the Thunderbirds. My first thought was that this was possibly one of the performers, but I haven't seen any additional info to qualify that thought.
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Looked at the performer's schedule and it listed Vance for Jul 23. Sad.
 
Just a bit more info:

ENID, Oklahoma -
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says a pilot from Owasso and a U.S. Air Force officer based at Vance Air Force Base died in a crash near Enid Thursday evening.

The OHP identified the men as Randall Harris, 55, of Owasso and 1st Lt. Dale Shillington, 25, from Vance AFB.

The men died when the Skybolt 300 biplane they were flying in crashed northeast of Fairmont at 6:40 p.m. on July 21, 2016.

Harris was an airshow pilot and was scheduled to perform at the Vance Air Force Base Airshow and Open House on Saturday, July 23, 2016. According to his web site he retired from American Airlines in 2011 and had also been a flight test engineer for McDonnell Douglas.

His airshow company was called Bearfeat Aerobatics. He was a mechanical engineer and built the plane that crashed, according to his web site.

Shillington had been promoted to 1st Lieutenant in September of 2015 and was assigned as a T-38 instructor pilot.

According to the trooper's report on the crash, the plane was flying southbound when Harris attempted an aerobatic maneuver. The trooper said the pilot lost control of the airplane and it crashed into a field.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.

The Vance Air Force Base Public Affairs Office released the following statement:

"The Open House and Airshow scheduled tomorrow at Vance Air Force Base will proceed as planned. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds will perform at 2:30 p.m.

A civilian aircraft scheduled to perform at the Open House was involved in an accident Thursday evening a few miles east of Enid, Oklahoma. The pilot and an Air Force active duty military member were killed.

A moment of silence will be observed during the opening remarks at the Open House Saturday to honor the deceased.

Names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin."
 
Sobering reminder that accidents happen to even very experienced folks. RIP
 
SoonerAviator said:
The OHP identified the men as Randall Harris, 55, of Owasso and 1st Lt. Dale Shillington, 25, from Vance AFB.

Names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin."
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???
 
SoonerAviator said:
Yeah I though that was kinda funny. They may have updated the story with the names after they were released, but didn't edit that portion.
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Two different sources pasted into one message.
 
SoonerAviator said:
According to the trooper's report on the crash, the plane was flying southbound when Harris attempted an aerobatic maneuver. The trooper said the pilot lost control of the airplane and it crashed into a field.
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Or his pax was flying and screwed up and locked on the controls or something. 25 yr old T-38 instructor pilot...high confidence fellow I'm sure, but out of his element here. Randy had been flying this plane in airshows for over 20 years. I'm always suspicious when pilot passengers are involved with crashes like this. Hard to imagine him just screwing up some acro maneuver he'd done a million times and crashing. Hope we learn something about this one.
 
RoscoeT said:
Or his pax was flying and screwed up and locked on the controls or something. 25 yr old T-38 instructor pilot...high confidence fellow I'm sure, but out of his element here. Randy had been flying this plane in airshows for over 20 years. I'm always suspicious when pilot passengers are involved with crashes like this. Hard to imagine him just screwing up some acro maneuver he'd done a million times and crashing. Hope we learn something about this one.
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Yeah, I'm not sure where the Trooper got his info from to be honest.
 
Tailwinds 1LT Shillington. A nickel on the grass...
 
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