OV-10 crash in UK

[Indian head]

This afternoon, Bronco G-BZGK (ex 9932 of the German Air Force) was destroyed in a crash at Cotswold Airfield Kemble at about 1500 local time. The aircraft struck the ground during a manouvre and caught fire.

The pilot was airlifted to hospital with serious burns, no more news on his condition as yet. More here;

http://www.itv.com/news/west/update/201 ... ash-lands/

[C VEICH]

Bummer! Prayers for a full recovery of the unlucky pilot.

[Ken]

http://www.broncodemoteam.com

I have always loved the Bronco and was sad that I just missed that era of AF flying; the last unit stood down while I was in pilot training. I've been on their web site before and thoroughly enjoyed the video links of the Bronco in action.

My most sincere best wishes for the recovery of the pilot, his family, and the team. I believe the site says that they operate two other Broncos, so let's hope that the team will return from this awful incident.

Ken

[51fixer]

Too bad, could have been worse for the pilot.
http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=146684

[51fixer]

Better look at the photo
http://twitter.com/GWAAC/status/2227325 ... to/1/large

[Roger W]

A Facebook update copied below. Keep up the prayers.

An update from the Bronco Demo Team following Tuesday's accident at Kemble.
Bronco Demo Team
Dear Bronco friends,

We wanted to inform you that there was an incident on the 10th July 2012 at Kemble (Cotswold Airport, UK) concerning Tony and the Bronco. At approx. 15:00 in good flying conditions, Tony choose to take the opportunity to practice a standard display program. Unfortunately, shortly into the flight there was a problem and Tony and the Bronco had a crash landing from low altitude into the grass strip in front of the control tower.

The Bronco was destroyed on impact, but Tony managed to open the cockpit himself and was helped out by the fire crew. He was talking and moving all limbs and taken by helicopter to Franchay hospital in Bristol. He is presently in a stable condition with some burns and back injuries.
Following on from his initial assessment he has subsequently had a successful operation on his back injury and is receiving treatment for his burns.

All the signs are for a positive full recovery; we will keep you updated.

Thank you to everyone for their help, support and kind wishes at this time.

The Bronco Demo Team

[Wildchild]

Its amazing he survived that...

I wish him good luck on his recovery

[Ken]

Facebook says Tony is making a good recovery. Google shows some pretty impressive photos of the wreckage.

[mike furline]

http://forum.scramble.nl/viewtopic.php?p=587246

[CAPFlyer]

Just out of curiosity, do any European civilian-owned warbirds other than maybe the Lightning have an operational ejection seat? I know in the US it's a pain to do (both in paperwork and in cost of maintenance), but there's several types that the injuries the bang seat might do are preferable to the other result if something should go wrong.

[Mike]

There are no civilian-operated Lightnings.

In the UK, if the aircraft was originally fitted with an ejection seat, it must be operational.

[ZRX61]

There are no civilian-operated Lightnings.

In the UK, if the aircraft was originally fitted with an ejection seat, it must be operational.

Not technically true... they are just operated on the ground

[CAPFlyer]

There are no civilian-operated Lightnings.

In the UK, if the aircraft was originally fitted with an ejection seat, it must be operational.

I was speaking of the ground running Lightning at Bruntingthorpe that I know has an operational seat because I've seen video of them going through the arming procedure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyA23jHsuf8

(no this video doesn't show that procedure, I can't find the one I watched that showed it)

Thanks for the clarification though on the airworthy aircraft. I do almost wonder if they were operational on the OV-10 (being German registered) and why he chose to ride it out instead of punching out. The impact was pretty severe.

[The Inspector]

Moons ago at an airshow I spoke with a MARINE OV-10 pilot and he said they were under strict orders that unless there was a demonstrated need for max perf 'blow n go' takeoffs they were all 'granny airliner' type departures because of the possibility of an engine failure low and slow.

[Andy Marden]

At the risk of being boring, can one of the moderators please amend the thread title to show the date of this crash.....