T-6 Down on Long Island 5/30/18

[Craig59]

There is a lot of confusion going on there :/

My thoughts exactly after listening to the ATC feed. Very, very sad. Communication of threats and intentions in aviation is so critically important. One has to wonder if they had any established contingencies for this type of occurrence; where number one is no longer communicating for the flight.

[marine air]

Extremely sad.They have such a nice routine and seem so professional. The NTSB will figure this one out. The video and the type of fire suggest there was fuel on board and that the aircraft spun in. Maybe more video will help to discern if the pilot became incapacitated or the aircraft had a mechanical failure of some kind. TThat was a rare early model T-6 with the early shaped tail. Prayers are with the family as he seemed to be an excellent pilot and citizen.

[darrenvox]

One less t-6 existing in the world then,..

[OD/NG]

One less t-6 existing in the world then,..

More importantly, one less existing human being in the world, then...

[hbtcoveralls]

One less t-6 existing in the world then,..

You can build a brand new AT-6/SNJ.
You can't make a new husband and father
Airplanes are just metal and rubber, it's the pilot that gives them life

[Human Factor]

I don't post much on this site - for no reason other than I prefer to read only.

In short, what hbtcoveralls says. I lost a friend in a nasty midair in the UK some years ago (he didn't go alone) and another who was killed by his student in a Yak52. Much as I like these wonderful aeroplanes (airplanes!!), they can be rebuilt and replaced. The important bits can't.

I also missed the airshow by a day as I left New York the day before.

[Mike Robinson]

I would have thought by now there might be a video surfaced that shows what happened just before and how the spin was entered. In one video it seemed very flat and slow pivoting on the center section very slowly before finally the nose fell. He got far enough from the runway to take out the thought of the gust lock on during takeoff. A slipped elevator cable swage? Something falling into the elevator control linkages in the tail or bottom of the flight deck? There's no way he would have done a loop intentionality in a busy training airport environment.

I have all the parts to put the P-51 style (in operation only) tailwheel unlock on mine but, I don't want those pushrods back in the tail to get screwed up some day some how. Is it possible that style tailwheel unlock was retrofitted into this SNJ?
A friend of mine had that style tailwheel unlock installed without the pushrods and only a lever on the flight deck that when actuated just pulled the pin and when the lever let go of it is armed for the pin to lock back in. No pushrods to screw up and get bent in the tail.

I can't believe Ken would get into a stall spin scenario just catching up with 1 2 and 5 with a plan to just to go back to the airport because 3 and 4 still on the ground.

Nothing heard about the funeral yet.

[flyride]

If it was a mechanical/control issue, it seems odd that a mayday was not called, especially given all the company comms that were occurring. A terrible loss in any case.