Shelton, of Collinsville, Okla., was performing aerobatics over the Neosho area. Shelton’s landing gear had failed, but no one was hurt in the crash landing at Hugh Robinson Memorial Airport.
Shelton, who declined to comment on the situation, was unhurt and walking around the airstrip after the incident. The Wildcat was in a little bit worse shape, with its front propeller damaged beyond repair.
Airport employee Ted England wasn’t there for work on Saturday afternoon — he had come out to watch Shelton’s aerobatics. He witnessed Shelton’s landing.
“He landed in a perfect landing, and it looked like the (landing) gear just folded up,” England said. “He was already landing and was ‘rolling out.’”
England said he could hear the propeller, which he called the “prop,” hit the runway. All three blades on the propeller were bent or twisted after the skid.
“There’s nothing hurt except the prop,” England said. “It just scooted on up the runway until (it stopped).”
As of press time, it was still unknown what caused the gear to fail.
“He (Shelton) thinks the gear box may have broken and caused the gear to fold up on either side,” England said.
Dennis Cholka, a weekend employee at Neosho’s airport, said there were sparks when the airplane was skidding.
“When he skidded there for a little ways, it kind of looked like there was some flames underneath,” Cholka said. “It was probably (just) sparks from sliding on his belly.”
A propeller is expensive to replace, he added, but the accident could have been worse.
“That’s the main thing, no one got hurt,” Cholka said.
England said Shelton comes out to Neosho three or four times a year. Before the malfunction Saturday, Shelton had already landed once for fuel.
The Grumman-manufactured Wildcat fighter airplane, a 1944 model, was used in World War II. It was one of the first model airplanes to fly off of aircraft carriers. According to Shelton’s website,
www.gregshelton airshows.com, Shelton bought his Wildcat in 2006.
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