Warbird Accident

In the mid/ late 1970s I saw a very famous stunt pilot jump into a Corsair at Hawthorne airport with no prefight, start it up and take off to the east. He and the plane came to rest in the open field just east of the field (I think it's still there) apparently the aircraft had no fuel.

A short time in the future this same person slammed into the Santa Ana Mountains while traveling back to Santa Monica from somewhere south east of California, flying in deteriorating weather, I heard at the time he did file an IFR flight plan but was not current. With a little research you could figure out who he is.

I hope this pilot and/or his insurance get the repair bill for the damage he was responsible for.
At least he should have his flying license suspended for some time.

Denniss said:

I hope this pilot and/or his insurance get the repair bill for the damage he was responsible for.
At least he should have his flying license suspended for some time.

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Depending on who is investigating the crash and if the pilot is truthful about what happened, he/ she may walk away with no fine or revolkation. There is a process where you could self disclose an aviation mistake and as long as it wasn't a blantant act, the FAA usually grants forgivness.

ASRS - Aviation Safety Reporting System

FLYBOYJ said:

A short time in the future this same person slammed into the Santa Ana Mountains while traveling back to Santa Monica from somewhere south east of California, flying in deteriorating weather, I heard at the time he did file an IFR flight plan but was not current.

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If that's the same incident that I'm thinking of, he hit the back slope of Santiago peak during a typical storm of the season (Springtime 77 or 78 if memory serves right) and the Saddleback area of the Santa Ana mountains could be very treacherous because of the air currents/turbulance. (many aircraft went down in that area over the years)

I would say this. The story I heard was what I posted. But I looked up P-63 accident reports and found a preliminary report that says the pilot says the fuel selector "became inoperative" when he went to switch tanks, and he subsequently had to perform an emergency landing.

There was no mention of leaving the mags and throttle at cruise or the surge in power, but when I fly a Piper, I switch tanks several times to keep the fuel more or less balanced. I never run one tank dry before switching to the other one. I'll have to try looking at a P-63 manual to see what the normal procedures are for balancing the fuel in the tanks, but it sounds on the surface as though he probably knew in time to land had he taken the opportunity ... but there was not enough information in the preliminary report to make a judgement one way or the other.

There is also no mention of overflying a field without stopping.

There is always more than one story, and I suppose we'll see when the final report is issued. So, at this point, I won't form any bad views of the pilot's actions because hearing an account of it from other than the pilot doesn't mean it happened exactly that way. I'd bet the NTSB will find out in the end, though.

I hope he did it right and just ran into bad luck. It will probably come out one way or the other.

I have no association with anyone in this incident. I was not there and am just sharing information. Below is the pilot's statement to which I have removed identifying characteristics for the sake or global harmony. Also, I do not believe the A/C was too beat up and is being rebuilt, not that it makes the incident okay.

"This flight originated in XXX on 11 October, 2013. Flight destination was YYY. Time of departure was approximately 12:10 PM Central. Fuel tanks were topped off that morning at XYZ Aviation. Total fuel on board was 150 gallons (75 gallons per side). Fuel burn is 60 gallons per hour. I would need 75 gallons for the flight. My initial cruise altitude was 4500' on the way to a final cruise altitude of 8500'. Weather in route was scattered with YYY skies clear. It was my intent to burn off the right tank until it reached approximately 20-30 gallons. That was between ZZZ and YYY. Fuel pressure was good so I had no reason to believe the tank switch had not been successful. A few minutes later, I noticed the right tank fuel level was still decreasing and the left wing getting progressively heavier. I tried the fuel selector several more times before realizing I had a problem. At that point, I called YYY approach with my problem. By that time, I had burned more fuel. YYY located an East/West highway for me, but as I made a 360 degree turn to check out the highway, I noticed heavy traffic so I declined this possibility. I also looked at a second highway (North/South) and deemed that also unsuitable. More fuel burned. I was in a decent at this time. Approach then advised me the possibility of using AAA airport 14 miles Southeast of YYY as a possibility. By this time, I was showing less than 5 gallons of fuel. By the time I flew over the airport, I was showing "0" gallons of fuel. I flew over the airport and made a right 270 degree descending turn to line up for the North to South runway. I extended full flaps but decided not to lower the gear until I was near the runway. The Flight manual advises a wheels up, flaps down landing if you have engine failure off airport. I didn't know when the engine would run out of fuel, but I knew it would be any second. I was a little fast so I reached the fence quicker than I anticipated. I flipped the landing gear switch, but the gear only had time to extend about 12" before I touched down on the runway. Touchdown was at centerline before the plane slid off the runway on the gear doors. There was a fence at the South end of the runway and I don't think I could have stopped the airplane if the gear was fully extended. Time was approximately 1:30 PM.

I would like to commend YYY Approach for the handling of this matter."

Completely at odds with the story I heard from a normally reliable source.

Hope this version is the truth and will withhold any more comments until I find out. The pilot MAY have done OK ... we'll see.

I CAN say the engine was very poorly sealed ( ZERO oil holes were sealed at all) when it was placed into the shipping crate. Can't say whether or not they were sealed during removal, but breaking it down, which has to happen in any case, will tell the tale.

In any case, when they get it back the engine will be purring again sweetly. Hope they can find a prop! They are scarce these days!