Mid air collision at Duxford- no one hurt

[Paul K]

Right at the end of the final fly past, a Skyraider was in collision with P-51 'Big Beautiful Doll. The Skyraider managed to land minus a good section of its right wing, while the P-51 pilot Rob Davies bailed out. Early reports state that he was able to walk to the ambulance.

Some pictures here...

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showth ... 391&page=3

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/inde ... ntry811040

The first link shows an earlier incident with a Fokker Triplane. I saw that from the back road - the aircraft was pushed back to the parking area by ground crew, so I dont think there were any injuries there. Terrible to lose a Mustang, but thank goodness no one was lost. Thank heavens for that.

[DaveG]

Ouch, not good news

Thank God both pilots were OK.

[Paul K]

The two aircaft involved just before they broke to land, and collided..




Rob Davies abandons Big Beautiful Doll..





The Skyraider comes in minus a large section of its starboard wing

[cstorey]

What a shame , but providential that no one was hurt

[Paul K]

What a shame , but providential that no one was hurt

Indeed, Chris. If you watch this Youtube you can see the collision happen right at the very end. I suppose its very fortunate that they had gained altitude to kill their speed before entering the down wind leg, as it gave Rob that extra height in which to bail out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qME7VefLxFw

[DogTailRed2]

Did anyone see the Skyraider / Spitfire incident.
At the beginning of the display when the three Raiders were displaying the `loaded` Raider attempted a flyby just as two Spits were landing.
All I saw was the underside of the Raider as it took avoiding action. It then went into the hold and didn't take part in the rest of the display.

[Filonian]

Just glad the crews were safe.


Graham

[Paul K]

Film of it happening.

http://www.flyingfilm.co.uk/

What a moment it must have been for both pilots.

[Garry Russell]

Amazing

What a decision to have to make..stay with it or bail out at low level and getting lower........a huge decision and no time to make it.

[Paul K]

Amazing how quickly he got rid of the cockpit canopy. The P-51 seems to fly quite well for a while, and I suspect it might have been him getting ready to jump, unfastening the straps etc, before deliberately nosing it over into an empty field. There are very few houses in that area, just open fields.

Each time I watch this, the bigger the sigh of relief for both pilots.