A vintage biplane crashed, killing the 77-year-old pilot, while performing a stunt at a California air show attended by tens thousands.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Stearman biplane crashed on Sunday in an open field, away from the estimated 100,000 spectators. Black smoke rose from the flaming wreckage as crowds were evacuated.
Colonel David Mott, 60th Operations Group commander at Travis Air Force Base, said the plane was trying to perform a maneuver known as “cutting a ribbon” in which it inverts and flies close to the ground so that a knife attached to the plane can slice a ribbon just off the ground.
No spectators were injured in the crash, which cut short the Thunder Over Solano air show.
A US Air Force statement identified Edward Andreini as the pilot of the 1944 plane.
Angie Giles, a spectator, said that the plane “flipped over to do a trick and hit the ground and dragged over the ground.”
Roger Bockrath witnessed the crash.
He said Andreini, flying into a sometimes gusty wind, passed on two attempts before trying a third time, hitting the tarmac and sliding to a stop in an open field.
“He got down too low and hit the tarmac. He skidded about 500 feet [152m] and just sat there. The plane was essentially intact, just wrong side down,” Bockrath told the Sacramento Bee.
Bockrath said nearly two-and-a-half minutes went by before someone appeared with a fire extinguisher. By then, the aircraft was immersed in flame and collapsing from the heat. He said it took five minutes before fire crews arrived.
“He should be in the hospital with second-degree burns and smoke inhalation. Instead, he’s at the coroner’s office,” Bockrath said. “It’s shocking to me how long it took. I’m still rattled by it.”
The National Transportation Safety Board will lead an investigation.
The pilot had flown planes since he was 16 years old and had performed stunts in shows for 25 years.
Andreini’s Web site advertising his air show says: “Your audience will be thrilled at the sight of this huge biplane performing double outside loops, square loops, torque rolls, double snap rolls, and ... a heart-stopping, end-over-end tumble maneuver.”
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