Today at Oshkosh, the P-51D named ‘Donna Mite’ crashed, killing the pilot, Dick James… [V]
EDIT: Looks like it wasn’t right at Oshkosh, but in the area of Lake Winnebago…
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That is really terrible, especially with the pilot killed.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Do you have any more info? I was there all day and wasn’t aware there were any serious problems. One Skyraider did abort on take off, but it just taxied back to the warbird area and parked. They did an awesome “Heritage Flight” with Glacier Girl P-38, an F-16, an F-4 and a P-51. They had said the Heritage Flight was going to do the missing man formation but they landed right after the flight and 4 mustangs did it instead. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the pilot.
No unfortunately I haven’t much more info than that. I’ve pulled this from several other forums, and it is confirmed on the EAA site. The EAA hasn’t released the name of the pilot yet, pending notification of the family, but Dick James was well known by many folks who’ve been discussing this on other forums.
Here’s a quote by ‘Dan K’ from the WIX forum:
You’ll find the most info on WIX, but it’s not much as yet…
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I just found this on the Warbird web-site: http://www.warbirds-eaa.org/
I am just horrified to learn about this, another great man and his aircraft are gone. Little did we know in the audience during the P-51 missing man formation that we lost one of our own today.[V]
This is very sad indeed. My thoughts and prayers go to Mr James family and friends.
Just by reading the few accidents that have happened over the course of a few days and even the past few years, I wonder if the FAA will put a squash on Warbird flying???
Blue Skies forever Mr James…
Flaps up, Mike
It’s very sad when we lose an aircraft that is irreplaceable, but when we lose the pilot too, it’s doubly awful. My thoughts go to his family who lost a loved one, and hope that their grief soon leaves them to be replaced by happy memories of him.
Link with video of the crash site…
http://nbc15.madison.com/news/headlines/1738872.html
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On behalf of everyone here on the finescale forums i would like to wish our thoughts and prayers to the familys ,friends and loved ones affected by this unfortunate avent.
Terrible news indeed. I saw that P-51 in flight a year or so ago, but never met the poilot. Our prayers go out to his family.
Regards, Rick
My condolences to the family…a terrible, terrible tragedy. Thanks for the Donna-Mite tribute in your POTD Steve.
Not knowing all of the facts but based on the news report, it would almost suggest that the pilot might have been incapacitated for some reason.
Do you think there will ever come a time when AirShows such as this may be in jeopardy of going ahead, prevented by the FAA or authorities given the recent flurry of crashes?
It would be such an injustice if this did happen.
My thoughts and prayers to the pilot’s family!
RODC
I am just in shock about this whole incident. I am just watching the video I shot yesterday and have a clip of Dick and Donna-Mite as they taxied by just before they took off. You just never know when it will be the last time you see one of these great planes and the people who fly them. At least he was doing what he loved when the end came.
RODC, hopefully air shows will continue and warbirds will continue to “Keep em flying”. I know Warbirds of America is very proactive in all aspects of safety and continually improve warbird safety through research and education. The bigger concern about airshows is insurance. I understand insurance for a Mustang can run hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, that along with the cost of replacement parts and the ever increasing cost of fuel is more likely the bigger threat since most all of these aircraft are owned by individuals.