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| | Message text /Horrible news! There has been a crash at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome. Here
is the news article./
/Aerodrome crash claims pilot's life /
/By Kyle Wind, Freeman staff/
/08/18/2008/
/ /
/RED HOOK - The pilot of a single-engine French biplane replica died in
a fiery crash in the final minutes of an air show at the Old Rhinebeck
Aerodrome late Sunday afternoon, the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office
said. /
/Witnesses said the pilot seemed to lose control of the plane during a
mock World War I dogfight with a German triplane at about 4 p.m. Sunday.
The biplane, a replica of a 1917 Nieuport 24, descended into a wooded
area bounded by Stone Church and Pell roads near the town transfer station./
/"The biplane broke away and nose-dived," said 43-year-old Robert
Spanburgh of Saugerties, who was attending the air show with his
girlfriend, Susan McDonough. "Then it disappeared behind the trees and
never came back up." /
/The pilot's identity was being withheld by authorities pending
notification of family members, /
/Spanburgh and McDonough described the accident as "devastating,
surprising" and said a hush immediately came over the crowd as the
Nieuport 24 dropped from view. The show was part of the aerodrome's 49th
season./
/"Everyone was really upset," said Spanburgh. /
/Sheriff's deputies, who blocked access to the crash site with state
police, later said they discovered the burning wreckage of the plane
about 1,000 feet southeast of the runway. Deputy Everett Pearsall said
the plane "caught fire subsequent to the crash." /
/Sgt. Mark Femenella of the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office said he
could not confirm whether the biplane crashed during a dogfight
simulation, but he said it did occur sometime during the show and that
"no other aircraft was near it - there was no midair collision or
anything like that." /
/At the time of the accident, two Hudson Valley Men's Softball League
teams were facing off at a nearby baseball field off Stone Church Road.
Most observers there were unsure what exactly they saw until the group
was approached by air show officials. /
/"I heard a large bang," said outfielder Justin Wiesenthal, 27, of
Poughkeepsie. "We thought maybe something had happened, but we weren't
sure because there were other (dogfight simulation-related) explosion
noises." /
/The Rhinebeck Aerodome's Web site said the Nieuport 24 was a fast and
maneuverable fighter "so admired that (it) was directly copied by the
Germans." /
/The replica was acquired in a trade with the Aviation Heritage Center
in New Zealand and was powered by a Warner 145 horsepower radial engine.
It was 19 feet long, had a wingspan of 26 feet, and its maximum speed
was 110 miles per hour. /
/The accident was the fourth at the aerodrome since 2001, but none of
the others were fatal. In 2005, a pilot was injured when his biplane
crashed while taking off during the air show; in 2003, a Rhinebeck
Aerodrome employee suffered minor injuries when his biplane lost power
and struck trees before landing. In 2001, a Long Island couple taking
off from the aerodrome was injured when their plane came down in a field
about 300 yards from the end of the runway. /
/Rhinebeck Aerodrome officials could not be reached for comment Sunday. /
/An investigator from the Federal Aviation Administration responded to
the scene. Authorities said the investigation into the cause of the
crash is ongoing. /
/Simply terrible! Does anyone have any more details?
/
>From the Poughkeepsie Journal 18 August 2008
<http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080818/NEWS01/8
08180324&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL>
/RHINEBECK - The pilot killed in a plane crash Sunday has been
identified as Vinny Nasta, a teacher at Riverhead High School on Long
Island.
Though the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office has not officially
identified him, Riverhead schools superintendent Diane B. Scricca said
it was Nasta, a teacher at the district for more than 20 years.
"It's tragic for us," she said in a phone interview. She said he would
often fly organs to people awaiting transplants.
"This is just a wonderful human being who gave his time for the good of
others," she said. "This is a great loss, not only to our district, but
I really believe to greater humanity."/
/The crash occurred around 3:45 p.m., toward the end of an air show at
the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome.
An FAA spokeswoman said the investigation is being conducted jointly
with the National Transportation Safety Board. She said the plane was
destroyed by fire, but at this stage officials cannot determine whether
the fire started before or after impact./
/The pilot was flying a replica 1917 Nieuport 24 biplane during the
final minutes of a show at the aerodrome in Red Hook when he crashed
into the wooded area southeast of the airport, Dutchess County Sheriff's
Sgt. Mark Femenella said.
The land where the plane landed is owned by the Town of Rhinebeck.
There were no passengers.
The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome released an email statement Monday morning.
"The pilot was an experienced air show pilot for both the Aerodrome and
other air shows about the region. In addition he was a certified
commercial flight instructor," the statement read, in part./
/A baseball game at Stone Church Ballfields was interrupted when players
saw the plane fly over and crash into the woods./
/Jim Rushmore, 30, who was among the players, said, "The plane went
across the field and the engine died and we saw it nosedive. It was a
huge crash. In a few minutes, we smelled the burning field and saw smoke
in the woods."/
/The crash caused a fire, which was put out by the Rhinebeck Fire
Department. The sheriff's office is leading the preliminary
investigation, though the Federal Aviation Administration and National
Transportation Safety Board were notified.
According to FAA registration information, the plane was manufactured in
1997 and last re-certified for airworthiness in May. The Old Rhinebeck
Aerodrome was the registered owner of the plane.
According to information on the aerodrome web site, the plane had a
gross weight of 1,300 pounds, a 26'9" wingspan and a 19-foot length./
/Crashes involving planes from the aerodrome have occurred over the
years, most recently in August 2005, when the engine of a 1915 Nieuport
11 biplane replica flown by a Madison County man lost power during
takeoff. The pilot suffered minor injuries./ |
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