thedrifter
09-08-07, 08:34 AM
Pilot dies after WWII-era stunt plane crashes at Virginia Navy base
By: SONJA BARISIC - Associated Press
NORFOLK, Va. -- The pilot of a civilian World War II stunt plane died Friday after the plane crashed during a practice run just hours before an air show, officials said.
Jan Wildbergh, the flight leader with the Skytypers Air Show Team, died following the crash at the Oceana Naval Air Station, team sponsor GEICO insurance company said in a statement.
Larry Arken, deputy squadron commander of the nine-pilot, six-plane team, said earlier that the pilots had just finished rehearsing their routine at the Virginia Beach base and were coming in for a landing when the No. 6 plane, the last in the formation, crashed.
Arken was flying first, so he did not see the plane go down. But he said he heard from witnesses that the plane flew into the ground while still under its own power, he told The Associated Press from Oceana when reached on his cell phone.
Wildbergh trained with the Dutch Air Force, for which he flew first-generation jet fighters during the Cold War, the GEICO statement said. He moved to the U.S. to pilot private aircraft, ran a flight school and joined Skytypers in 1986.
According to the team's Web site, Wildbergh lived in Freeport, N.Y., and was born on Indonesia's Sumatra island.
The crash was being investigated, base spokesman Troy Snead said. The base was not open to the public when the plane crashed about noon, but some invited guests were watching the practice, Snead said.
The statement gave no details about the crash. GEICO referred questions to Skytypers spokesman Ralph Roberts, who did not immediately return calls and had declined to comment earlier.
Roberts told WAVY-TV in Portsmouth that the plane had no ejection system, and was flying too low for the pilot to use his parachute.
"He probably tried to continue to make the maneuver and save the plane, possibly by doing a belly flop," Roberts said.
The Skytypers Air Show Team performs at shows across the country, often doing low-level flying maneuvers and creating aerial smoke messages, called skytyping, according to its Web site. A computer in the lead plane sends radio signals to the others to coordinate puffs of smoke to form words while the planes fly about 250 feet apart.
The New York City-based team consists of six SNJ-2 planes, which were used to train Allied pilots in World War II. Only about 10 of them are left in the world, according to the Web site, which says the team is the "only World War II civilian squadron flying today."
The air show began Friday evening as scheduled, Snead said. Wildbergh likely will be remembered with a moment of silence Saturday morning, he said.
About 250,000 people are expected for the annual three-day air show sponsored by the Navy. Scheduled performers include the Blue Angels, the Navy's precision flying team.
On the Net:
GEICO Skytypers: www.geicoskytypers.com/
Oceana air show: www.oceanaairshow.com/index.php
Ellie
By: SONJA BARISIC - Associated Press
NORFOLK, Va. -- The pilot of a civilian World War II stunt plane died Friday after the plane crashed during a practice run just hours before an air show, officials said.
Jan Wildbergh, the flight leader with the Skytypers Air Show Team, died following the crash at the Oceana Naval Air Station, team sponsor GEICO insurance company said in a statement.
Larry Arken, deputy squadron commander of the nine-pilot, six-plane team, said earlier that the pilots had just finished rehearsing their routine at the Virginia Beach base and were coming in for a landing when the No. 6 plane, the last in the formation, crashed.
Arken was flying first, so he did not see the plane go down. But he said he heard from witnesses that the plane flew into the ground while still under its own power, he told The Associated Press from Oceana when reached on his cell phone.
Wildbergh trained with the Dutch Air Force, for which he flew first-generation jet fighters during the Cold War, the GEICO statement said. He moved to the U.S. to pilot private aircraft, ran a flight school and joined Skytypers in 1986.
According to the team's Web site, Wildbergh lived in Freeport, N.Y., and was born on Indonesia's Sumatra island.
The crash was being investigated, base spokesman Troy Snead said. The base was not open to the public when the plane crashed about noon, but some invited guests were watching the practice, Snead said.
The statement gave no details about the crash. GEICO referred questions to Skytypers spokesman Ralph Roberts, who did not immediately return calls and had declined to comment earlier.
Roberts told WAVY-TV in Portsmouth that the plane had no ejection system, and was flying too low for the pilot to use his parachute.
"He probably tried to continue to make the maneuver and save the plane, possibly by doing a belly flop," Roberts said.
The Skytypers Air Show Team performs at shows across the country, often doing low-level flying maneuvers and creating aerial smoke messages, called skytyping, according to its Web site. A computer in the lead plane sends radio signals to the others to coordinate puffs of smoke to form words while the planes fly about 250 feet apart.
The New York City-based team consists of six SNJ-2 planes, which were used to train Allied pilots in World War II. Only about 10 of them are left in the world, according to the Web site, which says the team is the "only World War II civilian squadron flying today."
The air show began Friday evening as scheduled, Snead said. Wildbergh likely will be remembered with a moment of silence Saturday morning, he said.
About 250,000 people are expected for the annual three-day air show sponsored by the Navy. Scheduled performers include the Blue Angels, the Navy's precision flying team.
On the Net:
GEICO Skytypers: www.geicoskytypers.com/
Oceana air show: www.oceanaairshow.com/index.php
Ellie