Old Accident Question

[daveymac82c]

Hi everyone,

As so not to cause panic, I hope my subject heading is appropriate.

There was an accident video I saw on youtube with a P-38 Crashing at Duxford what looks to be some years ago.

I don't know when it happened which is my first question. When did accident this happen? My second question is: In the end what did authorities determine to be the cause factors of the accident?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uknuyxaY ... ed&search=

I could come up with a few ideas of what might have happened, but instead of making up answers, I was wondering if anyone has an official explanation for what caused the P-38 to crash.

By the way, this is the first I had heard of this accident so let me just say that it deeply saddens me by loss of plane and pilot. It sounds like the aviation world loss a bright star that day. My thoughts go out to everyone who still looks back on that day and gets a tear in their eye.

-David

P.S. I'm sorry to post a crash topic at the end of such a tragic airshow season, but from the BBMF youtube linked from another thread on WIX, I found this video.

[warbird1]

Here is the official accident report. You can read it for yourself here:

http://www.aaib.gov.uk/publications/bul ... 501731.cfm

[JDK]

The AAIB report is available.

http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/df ... 501731.pdf

AAIB Bulletin No: 5/97 Ref: EW/C96/7/4Category: 1.1
Aircraft Type and Registration: Lockheed P-38J Lightning, N3145X
No & Type of Engines: 2 Allison V-1710 (1,425 hp) piston engines
Year of Manufacture: 1943 (Rebuilt 1992)
Date & Time (UTC): 14 July 1996 at 1451 hrs
Location: Duxford Airfield, Cambridgeshire
Type of Flight: Aerial Work (Flying Display)
Persons on Board: Crew - 1 - Passengers - None

Worth reading the whole report, especially if tempted to pontificate on the matter. The end says:

It is known that the pilot was a very experienced display pilot and produced high quality, aesthetically pleasing displays. There is no evidence to explain why the aircraft entered the second part of the final manoeuvre in a less than optimum pitch attitude which developed into a significant downward trajectory. The possibility of a temporary restriction to the flying controls (especially the roll control), or some other form of distraction of the pilot, could not be dismissed.

[daveymac82c]

Thanks Warbird1 and James,

I read through the whole report and it's still kind of grey. At first I was thinking engine failure, but the report dissproved that theory pretty quick.

when watching the footage I can understand that the accident report findings suggested the possibility of something temporarily jamming the controls. About half way through the second roll something didn't seem right and the movement of the airplane didn't seem as smooth and graceful as the second roll. It sort of whipped the wing over quickly.

It was interesting for the report to also note the possible stress that the pilot was under due to his heavy involvment in the running of and participating in of the air show.

Obviously something happened and I'm going to stop speculating the could have's and the might have's.

I still feel bad that it had to happen and am sorry if it brings up bad memories for some people.

-David

[JDK]

It was a very tragic accident.

I was working on a feature on the Flying Legends show that weekend, and for that I'd briefly interviewed Hoof Proudfoot on the Friday before the accident, and sat in on the Saturday briefing. (The article was never published because of the accident.) IMHO, Hoof was clearly perfectly capable of managing the workload. I don't know 'what went wrong', but Hoof had demanded a good standard from the show's pilots. He had in fact, in the briefing, requested that everyone make it a safe show, IIRC.

Bad memories indeed, including trying to help the press team fend off the aggressive mainstream media after the accident.

Perhaps a lesson to take away is that it can happen to the best, and certainly the most trusted of us.

[daveymac82c]

There definitely was a lesson to be learned from this. That is very true.

I think that lesson is. Sometimes accidents happen... And when they do happen it doesn't matter who's in the cockpit, they still can happen.

-David

[JohnH]

I don't want to be a prick, or start a war of words back and forth like some threads on here but I'm noticing this accident keeps popping up here every few months here when newbies discover it on You Tube. Please use the search functions, even before You Tube I'm sure this subject was discussed more than a few times since Wix started. Do we have to keep talking about this tragic accident every two months? I watched them build it, I watched and photographed Steve make the first flight and Hoof was a great man. This is painful.

John

[51fixer]

I don't want to be a prick, or start a war of words back and forth like some threads on here but I'm noticing this accident keeps popping up here every few months here when newbies discover it on You Tube. Please use the search functions, even before You Tube I'm sure this subject was discussed more than a few times since Wix started. Do we have to keep talking about this tragic accident every two months? I watched them build it, I watched and photographed Steve make the first flight and Hoof was a great man. This is painful.

John

I spent nearly 3 years rebuilding that thing. Last I saw it was when it was lowered into a ship. (Nearly got dropped on me while I was in the ship waiting for it to be lowered)
When I saw that news clip after moving to PA I almost got sick.
Any discussion of accidents that leads to meaningful insights to raise our awareness is a good thing for this industry. We can't hide from mistakes or failures of parts or people.
I have been to a number of funerals and have participated in investigations. We all need a gut check to make our future safer.
Rich

[JohnH]

Thanks Rich, and I have a picture of you on the wing during the first runup!

John