Warbird Information Exchange

Just saw it this morning on the local news. One Fatality

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local ... 182f4ddd4e

Pilot hurt, passenger killed.

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remember the Oogahonk!
old school enthusiast of Civiltary Warbirds and Air Racers

YouTube video (sorry, don't have the link available) shows the engine suddenly quitting without a sputter on takeoff as the gear was being retracted.

Does that T-28 look good enough to rebuild ?

Anything is rebuildable, but the cost would exceed buying a flyer.
I presume with the visible damage to the aircraft that it came to a sudden stop to cause the associated injuries.

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45-47=-2

There are a lot of T-28 spare parts around. The gear was in transit when the plane crashed so that may have resulted in quite a bit of damage you can't see from the perspective of the one photo.

Hard to tell for certain in the photos but didn't look like much of a ground scar - likely hit pretty hard. One report said it took over 20 minutes of prying with tools to get the rear canopy open to access the passenger.

Medical examiner report said the passenger died of blunt force injuries, so I suspect that either the harness failed or wasn't secured properly.

If he put it down that hard as the gear was nearly up at the time of impact and it just slammed down could have just broken their neck.

The T-28 and many other warbirds have an inertia reel lock on the left bottom side of the seat. It is on the "Before Takeoff" and "Runway Line Up Checklist" to lock it . In one position it is free and you can bend over to reach the knobs on the instrument panel and have more range of motion. Once locked you are held firm in the seat. Many pilots just keep it in the unlocked position all the time. Locking it before takeoff can mean the difference between walking away from an accident or having blunt force trauma to the head and neck areas.

Note that it is an "intertial reel", specifically designed to automatically lock during rapid deceleration.

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I watched that several times, and it maybe sounds like the engine was missing a second or two before it just dies.
It sure didn't sputter/cough/die, it just went off. Ignition/electrical problem? Never heard something like that where an engine just stopped instantly like that in flight.
It's been a few days and the pilot survived, any word on why the engine stopped like that?

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

The video suggests a fuel stoppage of some sort.

So there isn't any data to say how often the auto lock feature of the shoulder harness fails to work, but, anecdotally, the feature isn't to be trusted in older aircraft. The item does appear on some checklists and, even when it doesn't, is considered good practice by others. I imagine there are some who would argue otherwise, but I prefer to keep mine locked when I don't need the mobility.

That may, or may not, have been a factor here - we will see. Very sad to see any warbird accident; hope the pilot is able to recover.

Ken

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

I know in the Air Force we were required to do a quick jerk on the inertia reel straps to make sure it locked, followed by unlocking it to make sure it released. We did this every 30 days, when we did the 30 day inspection of the installed chute.

I'm sure the crewchiefs did the same thing during their preflight, followed by the pilots. When I did my incentive ride in the F-15D I was informed to lock it during take off and during final, otherwise I could unlock it. I know the military world and civilian world are different entities, but I would assume or think that some safety things would be the same across the board.

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Mike in Florida
TSgt USAF Retired
Jan 86 - Sept 08
Aircrew Life Support
"Your Life Is Our Business"
(122X0, 1T1X1, 1P0X1)
NRA Life Member