Bearcat Accident in Breckenridge, 4/4/12

rwdfresno · **Posted:** Fri Apr 06, 2012 11:56 am

Does anyone have a full bio on Mr Pardue? I of course know of his long Warbird career but I'd be interested learn more about about him.

My condolences to all who knew him.

Steve Pierce · **Posted:** Fri Apr 06, 2012 3:04 pm

Good video and a little background on Howard here.

http://www.warbirds-eaa.org/news/12004% ... Eight.html

Robbie Stuart · **Posted:** Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:11 pm

Here is a link to Howard's obit.
Godspeed old buddy!

http://www.meltonkitchens.com/?siteid=9 ... nuitem=847

Robbie

Anthony Svihlik · **Posted:** Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:21 pm

rwdfresno wrote:

Does anyone have a full bio on Mr Pardue? I of course know of his long Warbird career but I'd be interested learn more about about him.

My condolences to all who knew him.

Not a full bio by any means, but the Navy Legacy Flight website has a mention about him here.

Anthony

thundergull pilot · **Posted:** Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:04 am

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief ... 1705&key=1

Robbie Stuart · **Posted:** Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:21 pm

I read it, & that is hard to believe. I am wondering about that last part; "The witness then saw the airplane's wings roll suddenly before the airplane entered a near vertical descent. The witness described the final portion of the aerobatic maneuver as a split-S maneuver, or a descending half loop, from which the airplane was unable to recover before colliding with terrain."
I just have to wonder if that meant he rolled wings back level-from-inverted-then it stalled & fell back through into what was described as the "split S"??????????????
I know Howard is gone, & there is nothing we can do about that, I am just trying to understand what the He11 happened.
A Still In Shock
Robbie

mlenoch · **Posted:** Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:44 pm

Robbie: I too was questioning. However, this is 'preliminary' and thus we need to wait for final investigation. More accurate data will be (hopefully/likely) contained in the final report. FYI.
VL

ZRX61 · **Joined:** Tue Jun 14, 2005 10:16 am **Posts:** 2309

Robbie Stuart wrote:

I read it, & that is hard to believe. I am wondering about that last part; "The witness then saw the airplane's wings roll suddenly before the airplane entered a near vertical descent. The witness described the final portion of the aerobatic maneuver as a split-S maneuver, or a descending half loop, from which the airplane was unable to recover before colliding with terrain."
I just have to wonder if that meant he rolled wings back level-from-inverted-then it stalled & fell back through into what was described as the "split S"??????????????

Something doesn't quite gel with that report... the "half a cuban 8" comment.... wouldn't that be an Immelmann?

Chappie · **Joined:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:40 am **Posts:** 990

I'm glad I'm not the only one with whom this raises more questions than it answers.

Wings rolled suddenly? Which way? Was he still inverted? Was it a half-cuban or immelmann?

Chappie

Wildchild · **Posted:** Sat Apr 07, 2012 8:26 pm

Has anyone seen any pictures of the plane yet? Or has there been a video?

steve dickey · **Posted:** Sat Apr 07, 2012 8:44 pm

I highly question the pilot and his report :evil:

No thankfully there are no videos or pictures although I did as an eyewitness take a picture on the takeoff roll, yet its funny as an eyewitness and being fairly intimate with the pilot AND airplane I was never interviewed by either local authorities or federal authorities. I can only assume that the other few witness's were authority enough to make a conclusion. Our own local paper even got it wrong with the people (the above pilot not one of them) they had as "witnesses" which I highly question since none of them were in the aviation field so what they say is fairly bogus not knowing airplanes.
I will not say here what it is that I saw until proper authorities contact me, if they don't I will take it to my grave!
I'm still in shock and cannot believe Howard is gone, but someday I will come to terms with it God willing. Keep us all here in your prayers.

John Cotter · **Posted:** Sat Apr 07, 2012 9:23 pm

steve dickey wrote:

I highly question the pilot and his report :evil:

No thankfully there are no videos or pictures although I did as an eyewitness take a picture on the takeoff roll, yet its funny as an eyewitness and being fairly intimate with the pilot AND airplane I was never interviewed by either local authorities or federal authorities. I can only assume that the other few witness's were authority enough to make a conclusion. Our own local paper even got it wrong with the people (the above pilot not one of them) they had as "witnesses" which I highly question since none of them were in the aviation field so what they say is fairly bogus not knowing airplanes.
I will not say here what it is that I saw until proper authorities contact me, if they don't I will take it to my grave!
I'm still in shock and cannot believe Howard is gone, but someday I will come to terms with it God willing. Keep us all here in your prayers.

If you actually were an eyewitness and saw the accident, then you have an obligation to report the information.

CAPFlyer · **Posted:** Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:43 pm

Steve, the NTSB isn't going to interview you unless you tell them you saw it. Everyone who has any information has a responsibility and obligation to make their report, not wait for someone who wasn't there when it happen to somehow magically determine that you were present.

Crashes are hard things to deal with. I've dealt with several, including one which I was directly involved in. As I was just the office guy I didn't get formally questioned, but I did submit a report of everything I did once I knew an accident had occurred to ensure that the NTSB had a full timeline of what happened on my end and to show that we followed the emergency procedures to the letter and spirit. Every little bit of information the NTSB gets is important but they're not mind readers.

Steve Pierce · **Posted:** Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:49 pm

That report is nothing like what I was told happened by an eye witness. It doesn't even make sense with where wreckage ended up either. Having deat with the NTSB and seen what they came up with on my own mid-air collision I take their reports with a grain of salt.

steve dickey · **Posted:** Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:25 pm

CAPFlyer wrote:

Steve, the NTSB isn't going to interview you unless you tell them you saw it. Everyone who has any information has a responsibility and obligation to make their report, not wait for someone who wasn't there when it happen to somehow magically determine that you were present.

Crashes are hard things to deal with. I've dealt with several, including one which I was directly involved in. As I was just the office guy I didn't get formally questioned, but I did submit a report of everything I did once I knew an accident had occurred to ensure that the NTSB had a full timeline of what happened on my end and to show that we followed the emergency procedures to the letter and spirit. Every little bit of information the NTSB gets is important but they're not mind readers.

Then I shall track them down!!
I do like S.P. "grain of salt" comment below :wink:

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Bearcat Accident in Breckenridge, 4/4/12

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