Northport pilot dies in vintage plane crash off LI

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Nov 9, 2005
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A vintage World War II plane crashed in the Atlantic near Fire Island Sunday, killing its sole occupant, a seasoned aviator who was practicing for an upcoming air show, officials said.

Robert Baranaskas, 61, of Northport, took off from Brookhaven Calabro Airport at 1:09 p.m. in his Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, a single-engine fighter plane. Sixteen minutes later, the olive green fighter spun out of the sky, crashing into the water 300 yards off the beach at Smith Point County Park, airport and Coast Guard officials said.

Baranaskas' body had not been recovered but a recovery team continued the search Sunday night.



more: Northport pilot dies in vintage plane crash off LI -- Newsday.com
 

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My thoughts to the pilots family first.

I'm not positive, but that looks to be one of the P-40's at the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends in 2007. I was there. If it is the same plane, I touched her where she sat on the ramp. I have photos as work, I have to dig them out and see if I have the tail number in a photo. Too bad.
 
What was he doing that he spun in? Monkeying around low and slow? Altitude is your friend, especially when you're talking high performance.

Sad to see it happen. Condolences to the family.
 
Condolences to the family and friends........ I guess we'll never know but I have the questions of timshatz. No substitute for altitude, especially with the glide factor of a P-40 being similar to that of a piece of granite. I believe if I was fortunate enough to own a Warbird that valuable I'd want to collect on the insurance I'd have on it, thus a parachute in the form of the original "fanny pack" type would be in order... I believe the seat was originally designed for the additional inherent padding provided by the chute. Hell, he may have had a heart attack or other physical problems that a parachute wouldn't have helped anyway..... When your numbers up, it's over for this side anyway...........10-4.
 


A real shame. A pilot and a plane gone. Doubly sad if you knew them both.

I wonder how it happened. The P-40 wasn't known for deadly stalls like the P-39. I guess we will never know. Could have been a heart attack like someone else said.

I agree with Hollywood on "insurance" in these old warbirds. I would want a parachute just like the old WWII pilots had. If they could jump out, I would at least try. Main danger is the tail stabilizers, but better than simply spinning to your death.

In WWI most pilots didn't have parachutes. I imagine a lot of them would have liked one.

I wonder if the P-40 will ever be recovered or not, along with the body. The plane could be a total wreck.
 
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