C-60 Crash at Airsho

[Randy Haskin]

The loss of life in the C-60 crash is very sad and speculation will not improve the understanding of the events or help families overcome the pain.

I thought nobody was hurt?

[DougR]

All walked out of the crash. 4 had no injuries and 1 had a small abrasion on his ear which was treated at the scene.

Tailwinds,
Doug Rozendaal

[DougR]

I did not closely inspect the airplane. There is always salvage, but this airplane is probably not a rebuilder. Even before the fire, there was serious damage, the fire did even more.

[John Beyl]

Col Rohr,

I hope I'm not speaking out of turn answering a question you pointed to Doug. The photo's you saw were of the least damaged side of the A/C. It can clearly be seen that the tail is partially broken free as is the right side engine. Also clear in the photos is the damage to the nose. Both gear legs were torn free free or folded under. I didn't get a chance to go back and look at it Monday morning before we left but Doug told me that the left wing was bent back at about a 30 degree angle outside of the engine nacelle. The left wing and left side of the A/C near the tail section sustained considerable fire damage. The cabin section and cockpit were still 95% intact....Loadstars are tough old birds to say the least.

Since Loadstars are not terribly rare, this airframe would make a good parts source for other projects. In my opinion, I believe the cost of restoring this particular airframe back to airworthy standards would not be feasable at this point.


John
Red Tail CC

Hi Doug, I've been flying warbirds for more than 20 years including T-6/T-28/B-25/TBM and others. I keep saying that it's the "attitude and the attitude" that keeps aircraft flying. eg. weather not suitable - don't fly, aircraft not right - don't fly, pilot not current - don't fly, approach no good - go around, ATC wants this or that and not suitable for safe ops - reject it, and so on. I realise that I'm stating the bleeding obvious, but I see the evidence all the time - leave your egos at home when you go fly a warbird.

Where can pic,s of the wreck be seen?

Re: the accident after the CAF Airsho on Sunday past. As Airsho chairman I was part of the "disaster management team" that we always put together just in case there is an event at the show. This simply meaning I was in the loop from the moment the crash occured. I think that, as Doug Rozendahl has stated, there might be issues with some judgement and/or there might be mechanical issues as well. It is always best to let the NTSB sort everything out. I can assure one and all that there are literally dozens of photos of the event (from take-off roll to the arrival of the fire trucks) so piecing this together will not be that difficult. The important thing is that all five on board are fine.
Re: the airplane. It is pretty much a total loss. The cabin and the cockpit are the least damaged parts of the airframe. I'm sure the Mile High Squadron is already pondering what their next moves will be regarding the airplane.
Bill Coombes

[DougR]

Bill Coombes deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the astronomical amount of work he does, and has done, for several years chairing Airsho. (some would say a slow learner, but I for one applaud him and can't overstate my appreciation for what he does.)

I would also like to clairify, I hope I didn't imply that poor judgement was a factor in this case. I only passed along the facts that we know, one of them was, there was a quartering tailwind. That may or may not have contributed. Downwind take-offs can be done safely.

My intent was only to share ALL the facts we know. Not to hide anything, and not to pass judgement at this time. There will be a time for that, but it is not now.

Now removing my CAF hat and speaking as a private citizen.....

With regard to the NTSB/FAA reports Bill has more confidence in them than I do. Unfortunately I have experience with these reports, and unless it is a 135, 121, or a fatality, they look till they find something plausible, and they write it up and go home. Apoligies for my editorial, comments.

[SaxMan]

Not meaning to hijack the topic too much...

I witnessed an incident with the CAF's other C-60 "Lady Lodestar" at one of the now-defunct Frederick, Maryland airshows. I don't specifically recall which year it was, though.

The C-60 had what appeared to be an inflight fire as the pilots radioed there was smoke in the cockpit. They were able to successfully land the plane and the whatever was causing the smoke was quickly extinguished.

Here's where my memory gets a bit fuzzy. There was a gentleman with a scanner nearby. I don't recall if the Air Boss with ticked off that they brought the plane back in, or maybe they set it down on the wrong runway, or didn't abandon the plane fast enough once it was on the ground? Whatever the case was, someone was really ticked off over this incident. Can anyone enlighten me on exactly what I witnessed?

P.S. -- Does anyone know if the Stars & Stripes Wing (Frederick, Maryland) is still active? Their website is down and has been down for some time. They had nice pictures of the TBM restoration they were working on.

Now back to our regularly scheduled topic...

[Tulio]

Does anyone here know, if the C-60 that had the accident, is the same one that at some time during the last two years, was purchased by the West Houston Squadron, CAF?


Tulio

[TimAPNY]

Not meaning to hijack the topic too much...

I witnessed an incident with the CAF's other C-60 "Lady Lodestar" at one of the now-defunct Frederick, Maryland airshows. I don't specifically recall which year it was, though.

The C-60 had what appeared to be an inflight fire as the pilots radioed there was smoke in the cockpit. They were able to successfully land the plane and the whatever was causing the smoke was quickly extinguished.

Here's where my memory gets a bit fuzzy. There was a gentleman with a scanner nearby. I don't recall if the Air Boss with ticked off that they brought the plane back in, or maybe they set it down on the wrong runway, or didn't abandon the plane fast enough once it was on the ground? Whatever the case was, someone was really ticked off over this incident. Can anyone enlighten me on exactly what I witnessed?

P.S. -- Does anyone know if the Stars & Stripes Wing (Frederick, Maryland) is still active? Their website is down and has been down for some time. They had nice pictures of the TBM restoration they were working on.

Now back to our regularly scheduled topic...

Was that in 1998?
I remember that if it was. There was even a rumor the engine blow up or was blown up. Its not really funny how somethings get going in the rumor mills

[SaxMan]

1998 would make sense.

I don't actually recall seeing any smoke or fire. The annoucer indicated that they did have an emergency. I do recall watching the crash trucks zooming over to the site. The plane was landed on one of the side runways and was taxied over to the middle of the grass. There was a lot of attention being paid to the nose compartment. The door on the left side of the nose was open.

Obviously, they figured out the problem and fixed it, because "Lady Lodestar" was back again the following year.

[eric_stevens]

I was in the Old Domimion Sqduadron and was there at the time it turned out that the Standby hydralic pump that was under the floor boards between the Pilot and copilot that caught on fire. There was no way to shut it off so it kept burning. The Pilot flying it at the time is a good friend of mine and he was able to land the plane with no problem, as to them not getting out fast enough if you watch a video of it two people are seen exiting the rear door prior to the plane stopping, followed shortley thereafter by the third person. It was flown out the middle of the next week back to hampton roads. While the rest of us were fortunate to ride back on the C-46 Tinker Belle.

[SaxMan]

Thanks Eric. I knew I'd eventually get the story.

Again, I don't specifically recall what the issue was, but I recall someone on the radio being might peeved over the incident.

Good thing you guys brought the C-46 along so you could get back home.

[Jack Cook]

Doug,
I'll follow up on Brad's letter on Jeff Wright aka JCW. Friendship aside, he is hands down the best pilot I've ever flown with military or civilian. No ego involved just a solid pro. He's living proof that you do it by the book and fly safe and still have a blast. I'd listen to anything he has to say.