Pilot Dies After Plane Crashes at Florida Air Show: 'There's Nothing Anyone Could Have Done'
The pilot of a small military plane was killed when his aircraft crashed during an attempted landing on Friday afternoon in Florida.
According to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, the small Vietnam War-era airplane crashed into the runway extension at Witham Field around 1 p.m. today. The aircraft, a Grumman Mohawk, was scheduled to take part in this weekend’s Stuart Air Show.
“There’s nothing anyone could have done (to save the pilot),” Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told CNN.
In a post to social media, the Sheriff’s Office said they are working with the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate “all aspects of this terrible tragedy.”
“At this hour, the airport is closed,” the department announced. “Airshow coordinators are asking that you turn to their social media for updates on the show’s scheduled events.”
Neither the National Transportation Safety Board or the Martin County Sheriff’s Office immediately returned PEOPLE’s request for comment.
After the accident, officials from Stuart Air Show announced on their Facebook page the cancelation of all events set for Friday evening. The rest of the weekend’s events, which will continue through Sunday, will go on as planned.
“Due to an unfortunate incident today, the Audi Stuart Air Show’s nighttime air show and TD Bank Dirty Flight Suit Party have been [canceled] for this evening,” read the air show’s announcement. “We are working to reschedule this event for after tomorrow’s airshow, Saturday, November 2, 2019. At this time, the remainder of the weekend’s event will resume as planned… Thank you for your understanding.”
Friday’s incident is at least the fourth small place crash to occur this week.
On Tuesday, a Cessna 414A crashed into a home in Colonia, New Jersey, killing the 74-year-old pilot, Michael Schloss. Just a day later, a Piper PA-28 crashed into an apartment complex in Atlanta shortly after take-off on Wednesday, killing two people on board. In both accidents, no one on the ground was injured.
On Thursday, two people were killed when a plane went down near a roadway in Florida and crashed into a car.
The Beechcraft Baron, which was carrying two passengers, went down around 11:30 a.m. on a highway southeast of the Ocala International Airport, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to PEOPLE at the time.
Source: Read Full Article