Air Show Crash Kills Two US Pilots - (With Pictures)

Two planes from the US-based "Masters of Disaster" aerobatics team collided at an air show in Canada. Both pilots were killed. 20,000 air show visitors saw the crash from the ground and the show was of course immediately cancelled after the crash.


Photo: Scanpix/AP

CTV.ca: Two U.S. pilots killed in Sask. air show crash

Two planes from the U.S.-based Masters of Disaster aerobatics team collided at an air show in Moose Jaw, Sask., killing both pilots in a fiery crash to the earth.

About 20,000 spectators watched the disaster from the ground on the final day of the annual show.

The Masters of Disaster is a civilian team of stunt pilots which formed two years ago. The team's press kit calls it "the wildest, craziest, and most controversial act to hit the air shows industry in years."

The team specializes in multi-plane dogfights and aggressive aerial acrobatics.

Fire crews were called to the scene Sunday afternoon, and the rest of the air show was immediately cancelled.

The Transport Safety Board will start its investigation Monday into what caused the accident.


Photos: Mike Todd

Click the link to read the full article...

Very sad when this happens. There has been quite a few crashes in relation to air shows in history.

Wow, how horrible...

The only good thing is it looks like no one on the ground was injured, as has happened before at air show accidents.

This happened some time ago here in pgh.. around 97.. The guy was doing some tricks or something and the plane just broke in half or something...

As I recall they didnt cancel the event that was going on at that time.

It depends on the event coordinators if they cancel or not. That was an amazing picture of the collision. Sad to hear about the crash though. This is the second one I heard about today. One was practice near Dover AFB, two planes collided and one pilot was killed but I'm not sure about what kind of planes they were.

it always sucks to see our brave brothers die in the sky

they will always have a place in my heart and memory for having more guts than i do

btw...are those bi-planes?

They fly the Samson, the Waco, and the Bulldog biplanes for their performances. Always sad to see something like this, especially with two in the same day.

Originally posted by muzzleflash
btw...are those bi-planes?

According to the main article:

The pilots were flying small jet bi-planes, replicating a First World War airfight, when their wings clipped. The planes were nicknamed "Samson," and "Waco."
The team's third plane, "Bulldog," was able to make a safe landing.

Pushing the limits of physics in outdated planes, oh it happened again.

I'm sure atleast that the pilots loved what they do and dying doing somthing you love certainly beats dying in a tube station.

Best wishes to the family of the pilots.

They're not outdated. They're fairly new planes, just an old DESIGN. Huge difference there. The Pitts biplane, which I believe one of the three is, was built up until like the 80s IIRC.

lol the 80's, my car which is only 5 or so years old is allready outdated.

Do you even understand what you post?

I understand completely. Planes were designed to last a LOT longer than a car and undergo a LOT more stress than your car does. Oh, and for the record I was mistaken. The Pitts Model 14 was built 2 years ago, so they're STILL building them. BUt I know planes well, and 20 years is NOT outdated for a plane.

Just because something was built 2years ago that doesn't make it upto date.

20years is ALONG time in powerd aviation since it's only been around 100years or so.

Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about and if you would like to continue our little discussion please do it in U2U.

What reason is there for a civilian acrobatic plane to have to be "state of the art up to date" according to your standards? That 747 that flew 300+ people halfway around the world is a 35 year old design, many of them built 5-10 years ago, but are still "up to date".

Well this was interesting until Thor got stuck in on it.

Why would an aerobatics team use planes that were "out dated", surely they were good enough for them to use otherwise they would have used something else.

Thor -You have'nt even posted info on the planes used, you are just arguing that YOU think that 2years makes it out of date. Are you a professional pilot? Do you fly aerobatic demonstrations?

question:
When was the F-15, the Tomcat, the Harrier and the A1 Skyraider amongst others first used, and when were they discontinued in combat?? More than 2 years differe4nce between the dates?????? Never mind the civilian planes used.....

Zaphod58- thanks for trying to make this an intersting topic, your input is appreciated.

[edit on 11-7-2005 by Kainen]

There BIPLANES Desgined more than 80years ago, to say there not outdated is simply stupid.

They use these planes for the love of it, just how some people drive classic cars because they are truly inspired by them.

I'm not saying there some old crop dusting plane that they just hope in and go for a cruise, surely they have upto date technologly but the planes themselves are out of date.

Did you see that video?

There is a link to a video of the crash on the right side on this page.

Looks like one plane got its wing clipped by another plane. The plane which got its wing clipped then sort of bounces up in the air from what I can see and hits the third plane from below.

The PLANES are NOT outdated, they are built with up to date materials, instruments, etc. The DESIGN is 80 years old. There is a HUGE difference between an out of date DESIGN and an out of date PLANE. You can build an old plane with modern materials, and have an up to date plane, that's an old design. That's the case here. They are flying modern versions of an old design. You keep comparing the DESIGN to the PLANE and there IS a difference. They didn't build those planes 80 years ago, slap modern instruments into them, and go fly them for airshows. The PLANE itself IS modern. It's the same with almost every plane out there, except for the brand new ones. They are updated versions of old designs, but modern equipment. The plane itself is new, the desgin is old.

[edit on 11-7-2005 by Zaphod58]

A link with a little more info on the aircraft.
www.mr-jan.dk...

The plane is a 1940 Waco model. If you mean that the biplane Concept is 80 years old you are also quite wrong as it predates even the Wright flyer back to the glider era.

Many biplane types are still designed and built for stunt work and kit built aircraft. The biplane wing design affords very good low-speed handling, and improved maneuverability which would be out of date to todays airforces but not to barnstormers flying mainly under 200mph to whom lift and strength is important.

Heres another "obsolete" biplane which was recently designed and built by this man and is very successful.
www.bearfeat.com...

There have been many airshow tragedies in the last few years, many of them involving state of the art modern military jets. Even these use design principals honed in the first half of the century. You do know there were monoplane fighters in WWI dont you?

For instance, the ME-262 was desinged in the ealry 40s and was a swept wing twin engine jet fighter, as is the F-22 Raptor. Does the fact that these two aircraft share similar wing design make them obsolete as well in your mind? Because that would fit your biplane argument.

The fact is, whether its a state of the art Sukhoi or a Curtis Jenny, when pushed to extremes and aircraft can fail. And in this case it wasn't the aircrafts fault but a collision.

Before you say folks have no idea what they are talking about I would suggest you do a little research yourself or at least use some care to phrase your argument a bit better.


[edit on 11-7-2005 by Veltro]

Two planes from the US-based "Masters of Disaster" aerobatics team collided at an air show in Canada.

Does any one realize the Irony here? Look at their name.

Indeed I did see that. Isn't it ironic? Dont'cha think? These guys obviously knew what would likely become of them if they made one small mistake. Stunt flyers put their lives at stake for the entertainmment of thousands and for the love of the sport. Some people would say brave and others reckless, I think it rests somewhere inbetween.