Simviation Forums

by **Craig.** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 9:05 am

A firefly from yeovil has crashed at duxford airshow

one person has been killed sadly

by **Hagar** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 9:27 am

That's bad news. Another rare bird with more loss of life. :'(

by **Craig.** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 9:56 am

sadly have to add another life lost in the accident,
no further details avaliable at the moment

by **Craig.** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 10:02 am

just seen a video clip of the accident,
the pilot went inverted trying to pull a half loop by the looks of it but was way to fast at to low a level, tried to pull out half way through but then hit the ground

by **Hagar** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 10:47 am

Half loop? I thought this happened on the approach to land at the end if its display?

by **Craig.** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 10:53 am

the reports have changed a few times as to what part of the display it was at. so far i have heard it was the end of the display one was it was doing a manuver further away form the field and another said it was just a standard part of the display. its difficult to tell from the video as they show only the last few seconds, it starts with the plane inverted it pulls into a nose down dive just as it looks to be completing it it rolls left and pulls up but by that time it was to low to pull up and it hit the field.
I dont know if that was what it was meant to do and it was just to low, or if it was a problem with the aircraft it self, if you have sky news check that out its covered on there at least 2 times an hour

by **Hagar** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 11:10 am

The short clip I've seen on BBC News is useless & not long enough to see what happened. Unfortunately, most news reports of these things are sensationalised & innacurate. The reporters have no idea what they're talking about & seem to have a talent for finding eyewitnesses as ignorant as themselves. I've even seen reports that one crew member might have ejected -- from a Firefly?

by **Craig.** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 11:14 am

yeah i saw the BBC one it was a shakey clip and then nothing. i had heard of the ejection story aswell, which def didnt happen.

by **Hagar** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 11:30 am

Well, anyone with the slightest knowledge of a Firefly & warbirds in general would know they're not fitted with ejector seats. I copied this from the Sky News site.

An air show spokeswoman said officials were trying to piece together what had gone wrong.

The plane was understood to have just completed an aerobatic display and was returning to land.

Apparently the wreckage ended up in a field on the other side of the M11 motorway. This runs very close to the end of the Duxford runway but I would have thought if it happened during the display it would have crashed on the airfield itself.

I'm speculating now. My sympathy goes to the relatives of the crew. I have only disgust for the insensitivity of the media for repeatedly showing those clips - possibly before they were informed.

by **Rifleman** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 11:43 am

The FireFly/Airshow record isn't very good, especially when they insert some aerobatic flying into the display......we had one go down a nember of years back at the CNE airshow in Toronto, while exiting the show and doing a roll........

by **Hagar** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 12:22 pm

The BBMF & RNHF usually restrict their displays on all their aircraft to very simple manoeuvres to avoid stressing the airframes. I've just seen a better shot of the whole incident. It looks to me that he did a level pass down the runway followed by a gentle climbing turn (chandelle) to reverse & line up for landing. It didn't have enough altitude & hit the ground before he could pull out. The wings were level when it hit the ground at a shallow angle. The gear was still retracted. Very unfortunate. :'(

by **ozzy72** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 1:40 pm

I've just got in and read all the news articles I can find. I think this one will be tragically written up as pilot error as the aircraft in question had recently come out of a full restoration.
A tragic loss of life and aircraft

by **Crumbso** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 1:48 pm

I'm very sorry to hear that. I think I saw the very same aircraft just a few weeks ago at Biggun. I have just in the last year developed a love of the aircraft and thought the Griffin engine sounded glorious. At least the pilot died doing what he loved. I extend my regret and sympathies to the families of the pilots and to all tht had to see this crash. I witnessed a crash two years ago and will never forget it.

I am going to Duxford tomorrow and shall pay my respects if possible.

by **HawkerTempest5** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 5:30 pm

I'm deeply saddened by this. A wounderful aircraft and two tallented pilots lost in a tragic accident.
It's becoming a bad year for vintage types again, just like a few years back when a number of accidents involving vitage aircraft happened, including two in two days at Biggin.
No doubt some will call for vintage types to be grounded and this situation is not helped by the over sensationalising of the event by the press and news media who know little or nothing about the subject.
My deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of the two lost pilots.
Lets hope tomorrows show is a safe and sound.