Warbird Information Exchange

In past years, aerobatic flyer Nancy A. Lynn had wanted to perform at the Culpeper Air Fest in Virginia the loops, rolls and spins she had so perfected. But one year, she was thwarted by mechanical problems, and in another it was inclement weather that kept Lynn at her Annapolis-area home.

On Saturday, sometime after performers from the Bealeton Flying Circus walked along the wings of a plane in midair, she made her debut at the Air Fest, as a crowd of about 3,000 watched. Lynn's teenage son Peter Scott Muntean was there at a microphone, her show's announcer.
They witnessed a tragedy.

In her German-built Extra 300 L Standard, Lynn began a classic aerobatic trick - the snap roll, a series of rapid, horizontal spins. But suddenly her plane crashed, then skidded and erupted in flames about 1 p.m. on a grassy area of the north side of the Culpeper Regional Airport's runway, officials said.

Lynn was flown by helicopter to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Richmond, where she died about 11:45 p.m., said Sgt. F.L. Tyler of the Virginia State Police.

Spectators, including Culpeper County Administrator Frank T. Bossio, rushed to the burning aircraft in a rescue attempt.

"I just looked back over my left shoulder and I saw the aircraft just coming down," Bossio said. "The wing tip caught the ground, tipped over and caught on fire. I ran over there and the airplane was on fire. ... I just began ripping pieces off the airplane. Some other folks came with fire extinguishers."

Such a tragedy. The one bright spot, if you can call it that, is that she died doing something that she loved. The overwhelming majority of us will not go out that way.