Posted by pouncer at 12.21.32.253 on April 30, 2004 at 17:07:07:
In Reply to: Re: hey posted by Diff on April 30, 2004 at 17:00:10:
Pilot killed as stunt plane crashes into waters off Fort Lauderdale
sun-sentinel.com & NBC6
Posted April 30 2004, 4:31 PM EDT
FORT LAUDERDALE – A small plane practicing stunts for the upcoming Air & Sea Show crashed into the Atlantic off the city's famed beach Friday afternoon.
The pilot was quickly taken aboard a Coast Guard boat and rushed to shore. The pilot was reported dead shortly after he was brought ashore.
No one else was on the plane, Coast Guard spokesman Luis Diaz said.
The single-engine plane was practicing corkscrews and other acrobactic-type stunts in the air over State Road A1A, between 14th Court and 21st Street, around 2:15 p.m. when it went straight down into the water, witnesses said.
Stewart Barcalow, of Fort Lauderdale, witnessed the crash from a sailboat: "It was one of the stunt planes doing a stall procedure. It would do a turn, spin around and let out a little puff of smoke. He was dropping straight down. At the beginning it looked controlled. Even at the very end it did. We just expected him to pull out, but he didn't."
The final stall took place within 50 to 100 feet of the water, Barcalow said. "There was a splash and that was it."
The wings of the two-seat plane were reported ripped off in the crash. It sank immediately.
The plane was practicing for the McDonald's Air & Sea Show, the air show spokeswoman told WFOR-TV, the CBS TV affiliate in Miami, according to the Associated Press. The air show begins Saturday.
The air and sea show features performances by military planes, including the Navy's Blue Angels and the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. The show draws millions of spectators to the beach each year.
"The air show will continue as planned," Elaine Fitzgerald, the show's spokeswoman, said.