Stunt plane crashes at Oceana Naval Air Station
The Virginian-Pilot
Sept. 7, 2007 | Last updated 1:15 PM Sept. 7
VIRGINIA BEACH
City police dispatchers have confirmed that a plane has crashed at Oceana Naval Air Station.
Navy authorities were responding to the crash, they said.
Ralph Roberts with GEICO Skytypers told WAVY news the Skytypers' No. 6 plane went down during an air show rehearsal. The crash occurred "at the very end of their last maneuver," Roberts said.
"We're just hoping for the best," said Troy Snead, a spokesman for Oceana Naval Air Station. "We have an aircraft that went down at the end of the runway, and the emergency crews are on scene."
According to GEICO's Web site, the Skytypers Air Show Team is a squadron of six World War II SNJ-2 airplanes that performs at air shows across the country. The pilots perform low-level flying maneuvers and deliver aerial smoke messages, also called Skytyping.
The site claims that the group is the "only World War II civilian squadron flying today."
The Skytypers release their messages five planes abreat, 250 feet apart and "type" short messages in the sky, according to the company's site.
During exhibitions, the pilots fly in formation and a computer in the lead plane sends radio signals to the smoke systems in each plane, the site says.
This is the "official" announcement.
Charles