Was Scott Kalitta's death really just an accident?

I am not the one to start senseless speculation. Having spent 20 years in the military , having been involved in certain activities on American soil that to this day the general public has no knowledge of I have become very adapt at putting random events together. Sort of picking up scattered pieces to a puzzle to assemble enough to see a a pattern. Or to make one go Hmmm?

Scott Kalitta was a drag race car driver recently killed in what they called a "freak" accident. He had returned to racing many years after retiring from a successful and safe career.

He was the son of Comrad,"Connie" Kalitta who also raced and owned the team.His cousin Doug Kalitta is also a driver for the team.
Here is where it gets,well interesting.

Conrad Kalitta aslo is the owner of Kalitta Airlines. A commercial cargo carrier. Here is the wiki link.en.wikipedia.org...

"In 1967 Conrad "Connie" Kalitta began a business carrying car parts using a twin engine Cessna 310 that he piloted himself. Over the years this simple start blossomed into a major airline - American International Airways. AIA began flying in 1984 using Boeing 747, Lockheed L-1011, Douglas DC-8, Twin Beech and Learjet aircraft, for air freight, air ambulance and charter passenger operations. In 1990 and 1991 AIA flew 600 missions in support of Desert Shield/Desert Storm. They ultimately became one of the world’s 25 largest airlines."

Start with this interesting tidbit.

During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict Kalitta Air made weapon resupply flights from the US to Israel, via Prestwick Airport in Scotland for refuelling, without authority from the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority. Scotland's Crown Office considered, but eventually decided against, prosecuting Kalitta Air for two July 2006 flights carrying laser-guided bombs.

Then, On May 25, 2008, a Kalitta Air Boeing 747 from the company's fleet overran runway 20 at Brussels Airport. The plane broke in two and came to a complete stop in a field bordering the runway. There were four crew members and one passenger onboard and no injuries have been reported. The aircraft was loaded with 76 tons of goods, half of it being diplomatic mail, and was supposed to take off to Bahrain.

Then, On June 21, 2008, Scott Kalitta was fatally injured during the final round of qualifying for the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

"It has been determined that a tragic series of events took place that fateful afternoon. An engine explosion near the end of the run resulted in separating most of the car's body from the chassis. The car's parachutes did not blossom, and the vehicle continued down the right side of the shut down area at a high rate of speed. It went off the top end of the track, up into the right catch net pole, and hit the television camera boom beyond the end of the sand trap before coming to a rest."

And,on July 7, 2008, a Kalitta Air Boeing 747 crashed shortly after departing from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá Colombia at 3:55 am. The plane was en route to Miami, Florida, with a shipment of flowers. After reporting a fire in one of the engines, the plane attempted the return to the airport but crashed near the village of Madrid, Colombia. One of the plane's engines hit a farm house, killing an adult and two children who lived there. The crew of eight survived.[

Finally,Kalitta Charters is an American charter airline based in Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA. It operates passenger, air ambulance, and cargo charter services. Its main base is Willow Run Airport, Ypsilanti[1], with one satellite base located in Morristown, Tennessee. The company is owned and run by Doug Kalitta. Kalitta Charters is now the sole company that has a contract with the government to fly the remains of soldiers to their final resting places.Wiki link
en.wikipedia.org...

American International Airways? Sounds as if somebody resurrected Air America a former United States civilian airline operated by the Central Intelligence Agency during the Vietnam War.

Mr. Connie Kallitta and the family businesses seem to have recently run into a streak of "bad luck".

If Scott Kalitta's death was just a racing accident,why is the New Jersey State police investigating it?

And of course this doesn't pertain to the subject but, Mr.Connie Kilatta is a registered Republican and a supporter of both Bushs and John McCain.Or does it?
fundrace.huffingtonpost.com...

Kalitta Charters was rumoured to fly CIA missions, as I recall, but at the moment I can't put my fingers on any web-based information on it. The DHSS use many different charter airlines to carry out missions of the various intelligence agencies.

reply to post by calcoastseeker


You , my friend, forgot to mention Kaletta's connection with the aliens from planet Zeldoor.....get a life !

this is so ridiculous and so far out there.

i was there at englishtown for it and ,,,if you watch drag racing at all, you know these engines blow up constantly,,,afterall, they're pushing over 8000 horsepower,,,most cars 150-300 hp,, so figure that in,,,, and also use nitromethane, very explosive and hard on engines

this was a total freak accident and more than likely he was knocked unconscious and couldn't pull the shoots,, leading to hitting the sandtrap at over 200 mph.

further more the backfired panel didn't work as intended and the body disintegrated which the parachute lever and lines are ran through, attached to which also may have kept the chutes from being released

it's sad to hear someone try to tie his unfortunate death to a conspiracy theory,,, and a very, very weak one at that

posters should do some homework b4 dishonoring someone's death with some crazy conspiracy theory

Originally posted by calcoastseeker


If Scott Kalitta's death was just a racing accident,why is the New Jersey State police investigating it?


fundrace.huffingtonpost.com...

it's standard procedure for them to investigate any motor vehicle accident involving death,,,,,,if u researched this b4 posting you would see that mentioned in almost every article mentioning that the NJSP are investigating it

or did you conveniently leave that part out

sorry to be ruff about it,,, but as a fan this really gets to me and is ridiculous and bogus-------and such a stretch


maybe we better tell cousin doug to quit racing b4 they get him to,,, he's a kalitta and a a republican----better watch out now!!!!!!!!! geez

No more of a stretch than some of the 'encounter' threads going on lately. At least it's a well thought out post.

Not saying I believe it but that is quite a bit of bad luck lately for the Kalitta clan. Let's assume for a minute that you are on to something.

Who wanted Kalitta dead? And for what motive? Do you think it was CIA or enemies of CIA?

Was the race car driver involved in the airline in any way?

[edit on 9-7-2008 by TheComte]

Young Scott managed day to day operations at the Flying Service. Yes, the Flying Service will fly anything anywhere for a price. Conrad wasn't known as the Bounty Hunter for nothing. Enemies? Yup, lots.

Scotty mudered? No. It dropped a valve, hydrauliced, pushing the heads and blower off. The were no braking marks and since the rear brakes on a AA/FC are isolated he was unconscious or his hands were injured so he couldn't pull the brake lever.

Conrad and Scotty were known to get in the odd fist fight and Conrad pulled a gun during a poker game in the mid-eighties. I don't like Connie or Scott, never did but they were racers and they will always have my respect.

Scott will be missed. NHRA has implimented a 1000 foot length to the Chrondeks as a safety measure for the two top fuel cleasses until better safety measures in both care and track can be developed. Drag racing will never be the same.

John Lear used to fly for for Conrad way back. Me? I used to work for Cha-Cha. Long-story.

The short one is Scott died tragically doing something most people simply cannot understand unless they've done it themselves. RIP Scotty.

A special Scott Kalitta Memorial decal can be obtained at Summit Racing online and the procedes go to help injured racers and their families.

reply to post by calcoastseeker
this just in!!!
technicians at Old Englishtown rushed away the severed bolts holding the blower to the motor!
t forensic examination of trace elements left in the charred remains of the aluminum engine block revealed strong evidence of trintium 90....easily traced back to post-Warsaw-Pact Russia......even more evidence was revealed that DNA from a handprint showed conclusive evidence that Oswald may still be alive.
an unidentified source quotes," a black Escalade was seen next to the Kalitta trailer in the pits, and a scuffle insued when Conrad tried to intercept said bag-man...".....as the Escalade raced through the pits to the exit, a man speaking garbled english screamed," Allah is good!"....as the Jersey HP tried to draw their guns amidst sugar-encaked fingers, a black helicoptor dropped from the sky......all else is pure speculation.
Scott Kalitta was the personification of asshole, but he climbed his ass into those bombs on wheels willingly, so you gotta hand it to alcohol or brass.....(you guys know the only way to shut them off is to turn off the fuel right?.....the sparkplugs melt, so there's no ignition default once you light the beast on a run.)...check-out the commentators sometimes talking about how risky it is to pedal (back-off the throttle..) on a fuel car
i wouldn't get in one, would you?...and remember, his dad was helping with the tune-up.......that's a heavy burden for any man.

I hadn't heard about Kalitta Air's CIA connections, but it wouldn't surprise me. Remember too, they say bad events happen in 3's, so I guess Connie Kallita's is done with his streak.

On the conspiracy side you guys do realize that Timothy McVeigh used the Nitro Methane that these cars burn in the Oklahoma City Bombing?

Originally most the media outlets stated that diesel fuel and fertilizer was used in the bombing, but it's public knowledge now that it wasn't diesel fuel but Nitro Methane a much more combustible fuel. I'll let you guys speculate the rest cause I'm not going there - just thought I throw out that little tidbit.

Homeland security has forced the manufacturer of the fuel to change the barrel size that the fuel comes in from 55 gallon drums to 44 and the price has gone from a few hundred bucks up to about 1800 per barrel at the last race in Seattle. That's 40 dollars a gallon - in order to make it less accessible to terrorist, I guess.


Testing the Nitro percentage

I saw the video replay of Scott Kallita's crash and I believe it was just a combination of several things going wrong. It appeared the part of the 1 chute (they have 2) that came out was either burned or melted so it wasn't much better than a kite tail for drag.

Note: Due to Scott's death these 1/4 mile cars are now restricted to 1000 feet for the rest of the season. That's 330 feet less than a 1/4 mile which gives them a longer shutdown area.

Remember when most of these tracks were designed & built, the cars went less than 200 mph - now they exceed 330 miles per hour in a quater mile, but the tracks haven't got any longer even though the chutes and brakes have increased their braking capability dramatically.

The problem is when the chutes fail the cars can't slow down fast enough before they run out of track. Scott hit a concrete post without slowing much from 300 mph and his car disintegrated.

Note: That even at 1000 feet they were running 309mph last weekend, but with the added 330 feet at the end of the run, they have more time to slow down now.

From my perspective the tracks are not up to par for these cars and they really need to lengthen the tracks or not be quarter milers any more. They also need a better chute system - that would of saved Scott as well - I think they are already getting better chutes, but they need a better deployment system.

[edit on 24-7-2008 by verylowfrequency]

What an idiot.... keep politics out of tragedy. Nice Obama add by the way, guess you are an expert on tragedy if you think he is our saviour.

Motorsport is dangerous. It even says so on the tickets you buy. This stuff just happens.

On the other hand, I have it on very good authority that the Illuminati were behind Ayrton Senna's accident.

reply to post by shortywarn


I totally agree. This is absurd. I go to many drag races and explsions like this are unforunately common in the fuel class. Another thing is no one has accesss to these cars except the crew members, so that would mean that one or more of the regular, long time crewmen and friends of Scott was involved in a conspiracy to murder him!

Dude, you have WAY too much time on your hands.

D.

reply to post by HeHasNoName
I'd like to here that story. Senna crashed because of a weld breaking on the steering column which dropped the column down in his lap and made the car impossible to drive.... "according to the final report" You can see the steering wheel drop on his in car video. So what you are saying I guess is that the weld was weakened on purpose. My question is why would they kill Senna (and Kalitta according to the OP) in this way. You can say "to make it look like an accident" but its much easier to put a bullet in someone from a 100 yards. The dark side (cia,mossad,mi6) do this all the time. I can give you a 100 examples. The chief of staff, Fred Hutchins for Senator Jim Webb (Virginia) just had this happen he was 26. Here's the story.

www.roanoke.com...

reply to post by verylowfrequency


Just for the record, It's 320 ft. a quarter mile is 1320 feet.

reply to post by verylowfrequency


I think they need to slow these machines down. they're just too fast. Longer tracks would definately help in some situations but I think these racecars are being developed pass the level of the drivers ability to control them and that's definately the case when something goes wrong. I believe both Nascar and Indy has put speed caps on their cars. I think NHRA needs to do the same thing. Being able to go 1320 feet in 4.5 seconds from a standing start at 330 plus mph is way over the top...

Slow em down!

D.

Look, I give the OP props for just having the sack to throw this out there, it's interesting to say the least. Whacking out a guy who races down a track at 300 mph in a gas can with wheels on a regular basis would be pretty easy and convenient.

You don't have to believe it, but you certainly can't dismiss it altogether, especially when it's apparent that the Kalitta family may have been involved in more secretive dealings.

Peace

reply to post by Dr Love


Ok, then lets look at it from this angle... Yes Scott did die. But here was someone that prepared himself for the very incident that happened to him. Fullfaced helmets, fire retardant suits gloves, shoes, facemasks, neckbrace, Hans device, 7 to 9 point belt harnesses, roll cage, Fire bottles, body burst panel, blower diapers.... I mean c'mon! And to top it all off, these types of explosions and accidents happens pretty regularly of which 98% of the drivers come away from them with nothing more than minor burns and being a little shaken. Heck if they win the round, they usually just pull out their spare car to finish racing.

Tommy Johnson Jr. when driving a fuel funny car for Don Prudhomme had a spectacular explosion during the 2007 Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals that blew the body into pieces and then came back to win the event. So even if this theory regarding Scott was true, It would make very little sense to attempt to kill him in this manner as the odds are more probabal that a driver would emerge unscathed. I'm not one to judge if someone is out to get the Kalitta's or not. But why this method and further more why Scott and not the big man himself?

Sorry, it just doesn't add up.

D.



[edit on 20-9-2008 by Slamm]

[edit on 20-9-2008 by Slamm]

reply to post by Slamm



To be honest I never even considered Scott's crash to be anything more than a bad accident caused by multiple failures - the biggest being the chute failure which caused him to run out of track too soon - hence why drivers usually prefer to pack their own chutes. In this case it appears the chutes did not blossom according to this NHRA article. Had there been a back up deployment system and a chute that would not melt, tear or burn which appears to have prevented it from blossoming, the result would have been different that day.

There was a piece of video replayed by the NHRA/ESPN the weekend of Scott's crash (his crash was during qualifying prior to the race)- I believe it was taken shortly before his crash. Scott looked at the camera and looked sort of spooked for a moment like he felt those of us in the future looking at his last moments before his death. Was really weird and I think whoever did that replay for ESPN saw the same thing I did - then again I guess it's all just perspective - maybe.

The only reason I commented here is because I'm a huge NHRA fan and yes Connie Kalitta's is an interesting character and that airline was spawned by the resurrection of AIA aircraft which according to Kallitta Air's own site AIA supported the Desert Shield/Desert Storm operations.

As far as your comment about the cars needing to be slowed down - I disagree. That's what makes it such an exciting sport. I watched them break the 6 second barrier and then the 5 second barrier. I'm sure Homeland Security, environmentalists and other anti-sport spectacle types would like to see Nitro Methane fuel banned for good.

Watching cars go by at 300 that shake your body like an earthquake is what it is all about. Change that and it's like any other auto race - While I still like other car races - NHRA TOP FUEL is completely INSANE - which is why you can guarantee a smile from anyone who goes to see them live.

There are plenty of slower cars in other classes - like alcohol cars or Pro Stock. If they want to continue with TOP Fuel they need to increase the safety without compromising the spectacle - slow them down under 300 and it would be like going back 10 - 20 years.

While they have experimented with different fuel mixes to slow them down and keep expenses down - so the little guys can compete better. I think they're running 90% (90% Nitro Methane/ 10% alcohol) now up from 85% of last year and down from 100% a few years back. Maybe they should limit the amount of hardware they can use in a race - which would be incentive to keep from grenading them. Blow up too many engines and you're done for the day.

I've noticed the big money teams seem to burn up more engines at the end of the run, because they can afford it. Take that away and there would be less mayhem and perhaps closer competition by teams that can't afford as many bullets.

[edit on 20-9-2008 by verylowfrequency]

"As far as your comment about the cars needing to be slowed down - I disagree. That's what makes it such an exciting sport."

Yes and it's also the thing that makes the class as volitile as it is. So where's the medium? actually, if you were to go back and read your suggestions (which were good ones, btw), you will find that they all add up to slowing these racers down.

I'd actually be inclined to agree with you about not slowing them down if most accidents were due to running off the end of the track. But the fact is, most accidents are due to equipment failure which leads to loss of control in which case most of these machines don't even make it to the end of the track.

These race cars are constantly being pushed to go quicker and faster and because of that we are seeing more and more engine, chassis and tire failures. temporarily shortening the racing distance as NHRA has done has a two fold effect: 1, it gives the cars more shutdown area and 2, it slows the cars down.

Visually I cannot tell the difference in the speed or excitement, though I personally hope they find a way to have full quarter mile racing again. But in the meantime, it's a good call. I never thought they should ban nitro, btw.

D.

[edit on 20-9-2008 by Slamm]