Trajedy 44-85634 'Big Beautiful Doll'

[SOLIDKREATE]

 

 

Former Sikorsky Aircraft president Jeffrey Pino was the pilot. R.I.P. Sir.

 

 

Details on the tragic loss of historic aircraft and lives:
Date: 05-FEB-2016
Time: -11:37
Owner/operator: Private
Registration: N551JP
C/n / msn: 44-85634
Fatalities: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 "The aircraft, a North American P-51D "Big Beautiful Doll", impacted rural roadway terrain in Pinal County west of Ak-Chin Regional Airport (A39), Maricopa, Arizona. The airplane was partially consumed by the post-impact fire and the two occupants onboard received fatal injuries."

 

 

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=184260

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ3DjpEJL2U

Edited February 8, 2016 by 6./ZG1=SPEKTRE76

[Bando]

Sorry to hear this.

Lives lost and a wonderful plane gone.

Sad news indeed.

[unreasonable]

Oh no, not another one lost.

 

I suppose that, given the realities of operating these old warbirds with their fine margins for error, it is inevitable that they will all be destroyed or grounded forever eventually. Meanwhile it had been thrilling to see them in their natural habitat occasionally.

[Boomerang]

Very sad news.

[Cybermat47]

Oh no, not another one lost.

To be honest, I'm more upset by the fact that two people have died.

[unreasonable]

To be honest, I'm more upset by the fact that two people have died.

 

To be honest, I am not. Thousands of people die in accidents or for one reason or another around the world every day, and while that is very sad for them and theirs, the fact is that the world is hardly short of people. 

 

Vintage aircraft, on the other hand, are in short supply: hence the thread.

 

I am not saying I would kill a few people to save a vintage plane (I suppose it depended on who they were ), but I see no reason for crocodile tears either.

[Cybermat47]

To be honest, I am not. Thousands of people die in accidents or for one reason or another around the world every day, and while that is very sad for them and theirs, the fact is that the world is hardly short of people. 

 

Vintage aircraft, on the other hand, are in short supply: hence the thread.

 

I am not saying I would kill a few people to save a vintage plane (I suppose it depended on who they were ), but I see no reason for crocodile tears either.

That's a fair point, but look at it this way - the P-51 is an unfeeling lump of metal, while the people were sentient, concious, and aware while the plane was crashing. The thought of somebody going through that is absolutely horrifying to me.

 

BTW, if your list of people you would kill to save a vintage airplane includes Kim (Jong-Un or Kardashian, your choice), I might give you a hand

[unreasonable]

That's a fair point, but look at it this way - the P-51 is an unfeeling lump of metal, while the people were sentient, concious, and aware while the plane was crashing. The thought of somebody going through that is absolutely horrifying to me.

 

BTW, if your list of people you would kill to save a vintage airplane includes Kim (Jong-Un or Kardashian, your choice), I might give you a hand

 

Well look on the bright side, as one's own demise becomes more imminent, the thought of the deaths of other people becomes much less upsetting, particularly if you do not know them. This is not because one can no longer imagine the horror of the event: more because one has imagined this kind of thing too often, so that it no longer has the same power to shock.  So at least that is something to look forwards to in aging, apart from the free bus pass, before whatever final blue screen awaits.

 

I am not criticizing the strength of your compassion or how you chose (or are driven) to direct it. Your joke, however, while a good one, emphasizes that compassion need not, and perhaps should not be directed at all human lives equally, but can reasonably be allocated according to some criterion of value. If so, why should my concern not be more heavily weighted to other matters of value - for instance the preservation of a rare and beautiful artefact?

[9./JG27MAD-MM]

P-51 Cadillac of the Sky a lump of metal

Ofc i feel very sad for the two people how died in this accident, it's tragedy and pilots how can handle this aircraft are also realy few in this days.

But the lump of metal exactly the "Big Beautifull Doll" was one of the best looking warbirds in the sky...sad

[Mastermariner]

You fly em you lose em! Sooner or later, as they are oldies and never was designed to be safe or enduring.

 

Master

 

 

[Dakpilot]

The guys in the aircraft understood the risks when they took off (hopefully) it is a terrible and unfortunate accident

 

however if an innocent family minding their own business were involved then that would be a tragedy,

 

I cannot count on fingers and toes the number of friends and associates I have lost to aviation incidents so i guess you do get hardened to these things.

 

The worry is if, for example as some people say 50% of 109's were lost in accidents with pilots who were current, it is only a matter of attrition before there are no Warbirds left

 

The owner  and pilot was a hugely experienced pilot with a lifetime in aviation industry and resources to keep it impeccably maintained unlike some which are kept flying on a shoestring in reality

 

I guess it is a tricky subject which has many valid points of view, I am torn between the benefits of keeping them (warbirds) flying and the need to preserve them for the future generations

 

Cheers Dakpilot

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

What a shame, bad week for Mustangs I see

 

All the wishes to the victims' families, hard times for them. The machine becomes a legend because of the pilot sitting in it, and this time we saw both go together...

[Finkeren]

Oh damn! How absolutely horrible

 

Really looks to have been a catastrophic crash. Hopefullly it at least didn't give the victims time to suffer.

[II/JG17_HerrMurf]

You fly em you lose em! Sooner or later, as they are oldies and never was designed to be safe or enduring.

 

Master

I think they, at least the late war AC, were all designed with as much safety in mind as possible. The intent was to bring your pilots home and offer them the best chance at survival while completing the mission. Much like an F1 car, you can only build in so much of a safety factor. Once something breaks or there is an accident well outside of reasonable parameters all bets are off. I imagine the pilot knew this. The passenger may or may not have taken this into consideration.

 

It's not as if single engine private aircraft built for "enduring" don't kill people on a fairly consistent basis. Hang a 2000hp motor off a 172 and I bet that statistic goes off the charts.

Edited February 8, 2016 by [LBS]HerrMurf

[SOLIDKREATE]

From the looks of it he must have been in an unrecoverable dive or stall from a high altitude. A lot of mustang pilots were killed or almost killed by forgetting they had fuel in the tank behind the canopy and tried to do some acrobatics.

[II/JG17_HerrMurf]

No tank. Replaced with a passenger compartment.

[SOLIDKREATE]

Maybe is was what happened at the Reno Air Races a few years back with 'The Galloping Ghost'. A trim tab broke off causing an 11G climb and bank. Thank God the pilot was passed out when he left this Earth.

Edited February 9, 2016 by 6./ZG1=SPEKTRE76

[JGr2/J5_W0LF-]

Very sad indeed, RIP

[II/JG17_HerrMurf]

Let's just wait for the NTSB report before making too much of an analysis.

[Beazil]

What a tragic loss.  There are ways I would choose to go, if given the choice.  This isn't among them.  I'm sure it was horrific and that there are people who are deeply affected on a personal level and dealing with that reality (the pilot and passenger no doubt have close friends and families).  And I am sure that history will also mourn the loss of the old warbird as well.  As a prop sim junkie I do.  In an ideal world, we'd find the source of the failure that caused the crash and correct it, or render the machine to a more dignified retirement, such as static display.  If the source of the crash was human error (and in the end, well....) there was really nothing that could have been done to avoid this.  

 

I've heard lots of stories about pilots getting killed doing "tricks" that didn't work out the way they wanted them to.  Even if they are veteran pilots with lots of skill.  You only have to be wrong once.

 

Edit:  And even if the cause was something that "broke" on the machine itself causing the crash, it really doesn't matter anyway.  The outcome would have been the same.  

Edited February 9, 2016 by 4./JG53_Beazil