Owner crashes P-51 "Big Beautiful Doll": he was killed, plane destroyed

You guys realize the pilot was the former CEO at Sikorsky right?

Damn shame


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PINAL COUNTY, AZ (KPHO/KTVK) -
Two people were killed when a small vintage plane crashed and caught fire south of Maricopa around noon Friday, according to the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.
"Although the plane was listed as a single-seat aircraft, when the wreckage was recovered, a second victim was found," Pinal County Sheriff's Office spokesman Mark Clark said shortly before 8 p.m. "There are now two deceased persons in this crash."
While PCSO is not confirming anything about either of the victims, we heave learned that Jeff Pino, the former president of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, was the pilot.
At least two witnesses heard the plane's engine "sputtering" before the impact near Papago and Ralston roads. The aircraft crashed within a few hundred feet of several homes.
"I heard an engine cutting out, and I was like, 'Boy, that doesn't sound good.' Then I heard a huge explosion," said Suzanne Barnes. The plane clipped a power line on West Peters and Nall Road, knocking out electricity to Barnes' home.
Another witness, Phillip Gonzalez, said he saw the World War II-era fighter plane do several diving maneuvers before the crash.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the single-engine North American F-51D, originally known as the P51 Mustang, crashed under unknown circumstances. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board remained at the crash site as of 6:30 p.m., looking into the cause.
After the impact, volunteer firefighters from the neighborhood worked to contain the flames.
"They don't have fire equipment, so they were shoveling dirt on it," said Suzanne's husband Steve Barnes. "One thing that was very clear from the moment you saw it, this was not a rescue operation."

Story, video and photo gallery: http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2016/02/north-american-p-51-fatal-accident.html
 
This is sad to hear. I am very familiar with this area, and we practice engine out procedures out here all the time. Known as the "SW practice area." Not a lack of fields or even cropduster strips to force a landing. If it was as simple as an engine failure, it shouldn't have ended this badly. And about that second fatality. Was that second person on the ground or??
 
robofos said:
This is sad to hear. I am very familiar with this area, and we practice engine out procedures out here all the time. Known as the "SW practice area." Not a lack of fields or even cropduster strips to force a landing. If it was as simple as an engine failure, it shouldn't have ended this badly. And about that second fatality. Was that second person on the ground or??
Click to expand...

A number of F-51s have a jump seat installed in tandem to be able to carry a passenger. There were two onboard the aircraft.

As rural as the area is, it took the Ak Chin Indian fire department some time to get there from station 561. If they survived the impact, rescue and further survival would've been very difficult due to only LE units from Pinal County Sheriff and Ak Chin Indian Police being able to reach the scene in short order sadly. Luckily, no homes in that rural neighborhood were hit by the wreckage, where it impacted near the middle of the street.

Second fatal P-51 crash in the central Arizona area in a few years now, with the last being the landing/balked landing accident at P19. Ironically, this crashes P-51 had just departed from P19...
 
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At least two witnesses heard the plane's engine "sputtering" before the impact near Papago and Ralston roads. The aircraft crashed within a few hundred feet of several homes.
"I heard an engine cutting out, and I was like, 'Boy, that doesn't sound good.' Then I heard a huge explosion," said Suzanne Barnes. The plane clipped a power line on West Peters and Nall Road, knocking out electricity to Barnes' home.
 
Bear said:
At least two witnesses heard the plane's engine "sputtering" before the impact near Papago and Ralston roads. The aircraft crashed within a few hundred feet of several homes.
"I heard an engine cutting out, and I was like, 'Boy, that doesn't sound good.' Then I heard a huge explosion," said Suzanne Barnes. The plane clipped a power line on West Peters and Nall Road, knocking out electricity to Barnes' home.
Click to expand...
Depending on power setting, that may not mean much. When throttled back, any Merlin I've heard backfires quite a bit and could be mistaken for "sputtering."

Could have powered back out of a dive, could have been power off spin recovery, could have been a sputtering engine...

If you can't do something smart, do something right
 
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