Sad Day. I'm still in shock

QXDVR

QXDVR

New Member
Sad Day. I\'m still in shock

For those of you who haven't heard yet, The chief flight instructor at ERAU PRC Mike Corraddi and Academics Advisor Bob Sweggennis were both killed this morning in a mid-air collision practicing aerobatics for the Octoberwest. I just found out 15 minutes ago and can't believe it. I worked for and with both of these guys for my two year stint there as an IP and am shocked. Details are still sketchy but they were out in the schools' Decathalons practicing formation aerobatics when the accident occured. My thoughts are with their families and the entire ERAU community. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Re: Sad Day. I\'m still in shock

Very sorry to hear that.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Re: Sad Day. I\'m still in shock

Here's the story from AZ Central:

Two killed when stunt planes collide

AP/The Daily Courier

Central Yavapai Fire District firefighters survey the scene of a double plane crash in Prescott, Ariz., Saturday, Aug. 28, 2004. Two stunt planes collided during a practice session in central Arizona, killing both pilots, authorities said.

Josh Kelley
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 28, 2004 03:30 PM


Two Vietnam veterans, who were top faculty members at the Prescott campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, died Saturday morning when witnesses said their planes seemed to clip wings in mid-air and then crashed into the ground about three miles east of Prescott Valley.

Chief Flight Instructor Mike Corradi, 55, and 64-year-old Bob Sweginnif, chairman of the Aeronautical Science Department, were practicing stunts in aerobatic planes to prepare for an upcoming performance at an air show in Prescott before crashing at 8:31 a.m.

Lt. Steve Francis of the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said archery hunters and an Arizona gun and fish officer witnessed the planes clip wings and crash about 150 yards apart in an open range owned by the Fain Land and Cattle Company.

Emergency responders found the pilots dead inside their crushed planes, which never exploded or caught fire, Francis said.

"It's a tragic loss," said Gwen Raubolt , university spokeswoman. "They were both fantastic pilots. You couldn't ask for more experience ... they were great friends."

Sweginnif flew F4's in Vietnam and retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel. Corradi flew one mission aboard a B52 at the end of the war and retired from the Air Force as a major.

Raubolt said they were both flying American Champion Super Decathlon planes, which are single-engine "tail draggers."

They were flying in a designated air space for practicing aerobatic maneuvers, Raubolt said.

Spokesmen for the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board said investigators have been called to the scene.

As chief flight instructor, Corradi oversaw all instructor pilots and helped determine curriculum. Sweginnif oversaw all faculty, curriculum and classes in the Aeronautical Science Department.

Both men came to the university in 1991, Raubolt said.
 
Re: Sad Day. I\'m still in shock

My response from the other thread:

[ QUOTE ]
Tragic news. Knew both men well as both faculty instructors and friends. Corradi taught me the first things about GPS in advanced Navigation class, Sweg was a leader in air safety from both the USAF and USC. Spent much time both knowing them personally and professionally. Would spend countless hours BSing with good hangar talk with the both of them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very sad indeed. Sometimes, it's the price paid in this dangerous profession; a price none of us are immune to paying. Especially with aerobatic ops. Formation work is one of those ops with very very little room for error, and the stakes are very high when performing it.

RIP to both gentlemen and friends. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Re: Sad Day. I\'m still in shock

Man, I can't believe that. While most of my comrades here are merely surprised, I'm pretty shaken up. Damn.
 
Re: Sad Day. I\'m still in shock

[ QUOTE ]
Man, I can't believe that. While most of my comrades here are merely surprised, I'm pretty shaken up. Damn.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not to sound callous, but this puts to 16 the number of personal friends I've had die in aircraft accidents in my career post Riddle.............it never gets easy, but you start to get used to it....that is, over the initial shock quicker.
 
Re: Sad Day. I\'m still in shock

Damn damn damn...

I knew them both. In a previous thread, I guess I played "ostrich" by thinking "Well, I don't know a Swegennif, but there is a Bill Swegennis..."

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Re: Sad Day. I\'m still in shock

[ QUOTE ]
Not to sound callous, but this puts to 16 the number of personal friends I've had die in aircraft accidents in my career post Riddle.............it never gets easy, but you start to get used to it....that is, over the initial shock quicker.

[/ QUOTE ]

Terribly sorry to hear that. While I wasn't friends with either of the two, Sweginnis taught two of my classes. This brings the number of people I know personally to die in a plane crash to 1...Damn. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Re: Sad Day. I\'m still in shock

[ QUOTE ]
This brings the number of people I know personally to die in a plane crash to 1

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I'm at two now. I lost a friend in the Riddle 20 crash back in 2000.
 
Re: Sad Day. I\'m still in shock

[ QUOTE ]
Not to sound callous, but this puts to 16 the number of personal friends I've had die in aircraft accidents in my career post Riddle.............it never gets easy, but you start to get used to it....that is, over the initial shock quicker.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am at 14 myself...

I told 2 of my friends today (one who is a Senior at ERAU-PRC, and the other Graduated ERAU-PRC last May):

"Today you start your list, it isn't a pleasant list, but one you will keep none the less. Try to learn something from each and every friend you lose in aviation so as perhaps their loss will not be in vien and the life they save might one day be your own."
 
Re: Sad Day. I\'m still in shock

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Not to sound callous, but this puts to 16 the number of personal friends I've had die in aircraft accidents in my career post Riddle.............it never gets easy, but you start to get used to it....that is, over the initial shock quicker.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am at 14 myself...

I told 2 of my friends today (one who is a Senior at ERAU-PRC, and the other Graduated ERAU-PRC last May):

"Today you start your list, it isn't a pleasant list, but one you will keep none the less. Try to learn something from each and every friend you lose in aviation so as perhaps their loss will not be in vien and the life they save might one day be your own."

[/ QUOTE ]

Sage advice, and well written.

I know that Sweg and Corradi were both accomplished aerobatic pilots that co-owned their own aerobatic school, as well as performed competitively in national meets. Formation flying, especially when combined with acro, leaves very little room for error. That margin becomes even smaller when you're practicing for an upcoming display, and you're trying to tweak and fine-tune everything in order to insure a professional display. I don't know precisely what happened in their particular case, but I do know that when you have a formation midair, the list of causal factors is pretty small, I mean, we don't find new ways to kill people in formation work; the methods are pretty well established in history and usually effect the same negative end result. This game is a tough one sometimes, it's so easy to win, and equally easy to lose. I fear that this one may be chalked to one of the already-known methods......one of those accidents where you can only say "we just need to be that much more careful."
 
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