Wing walker and pilot killed at Dayton airshow (Warning: Video)

Wing walker Jane Wicker, who was a contract analyst at the FAA, and her pilot (tentatively identified as Charlie Schwenker) were killed Saturday at the Vectren Dayton Air Show. They were performing a stunt where she hangs upside down under the wing of the aircraft, then the aircraft rolls upside down, and she sits on the bottom of it, when suddenly the wing dropped and the aircraft impacted the ground and exploded. Both were killed on impact. No spectators were injured.

Ms. Wicker answered a classified ad in the Washington Post, saying that wing walking sounded exciting and a "fun way to break into the airshow world". She was the registered owner of several Stearman biplanes that were used during airshows for her performance.

CINCINNATI (AP) — A budget analyst with a daredevil streak, Jane Wicker knew she was taking a risk when she signed up to entertain thousands of spectators at the Vectren Air Show near Dayton.
She said in a TV interview she felt confident of her ability and said on her website that lots of practice makes her signature stunt a “managed risk.” She planned to hang underneath the plane’s wing by her feet and sit on the bottom of the airplane while it was upside-down.
It wasn’t clear Saturday what went so wrong. The biplane glided through the sky, rolled over, then crashed and exploded into flames, killing the wing walker and the pilot, authorities said. No one else was hurt.
A video posted on WHIO-TV shows the small plane turn upside-down as the performer sits on top of the wing. The plane then tilts and crashes to the ground, erupting into flames as spectators screamed.

newsone.com...

Ooooh, ouch!!!.

But it only hurt for a millisecond.

The way it dropped looked like something broke, or the pilot got mixed up with the reverse of control while inverted.

and pilots never ever drink right

seems to be a puff of smoke just as the plane goes upside down, but in saying that....he was waaaaay too low for that stunt..no room for error

There was an aviation photographer there that said it appeared they may have stalled as they came in front of the crowd. That would be consistent with the wing dropping like it did. The NTSB will be investigating.

The plane was called Aurora o_0

I guess this was good for everyone.
Folks go to these events hoping to see death defying stunts and possibly see accidents.
In this case they got both!
Listen folks, dangerous things are dangerous.
This is not the last time someone will die doing something stupid.

Thread about this topic already exists here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by Zaphod58


How ironic the announcer of the show said that jane is going to disappear from us

Boy, was he ever unfortunately right...bet you those words are haunting him to this day.

Ironic also that her ex-husband was the pilot of that crash...guess he was pissed at the divorce he had with her and so committed suicide perhaps?

Posted HERE already.

n.m. Already noted by Bonez

This is what happens when you do silly stunts you get killed,it's sad but she knew the risks involved

reply to post by Skywatcher2011


They haven't confirmed he was yet. Some articles are saying he is alive and well with their children.

She had a lot of guts! Either that or ... I don't know.

That website is extremely racist btw. Smh. Read some of the comments in other articles.

reply to post by kimish


I read some after I posted it. I usually ignore then for that reason. That just happened to be one of the first ones on the search page.