Wing Walker falls~

[airtwardo 6]

~to his death.

I've worked with his dad Eddie at shows all over the country.

Very sad.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/21/national/main20095214.shtml

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[sinjin 0]

RIP , flyfree !!

dont let life pass you by

[MX304 0]

This was a terrible weekend. On top of the wing walker, we also lost Bryan Jensen when he spun it at the Kansas City Air Show in his Pitts "The Beast". The Red Arrows lost a pilot to an airshow crash, and a mid air in NJ claimed the life of an aerobatic competitor. Blue Skies to all

[airtwardo 6]

Quote

This was a terrible weekend. On top of the wing walker, we also lost Bryan Jensen when he spun it at the Kansas City Air Show in his Pitts "The Beast". The Red Arrows lost a pilot to an airshow crash, and a mid air in NJ claimed the life of an aerobatic competitor. Blue Skies to all

Bad weekend indeed.


Bryan and his Beast circled us jumpers at Oshkosh the last couple of years, great guy, great pilot.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[JohnMitchell 14]

Damn, Twardo, are the audiences expecting too much? Are we asking the performers to stand too close to the edge?

I appreciate the beauty of flight and the skill of the performers. I don't need to be chills and thrills. My condolences to all.

[futuredivot 0]

I don't think so, although I do see instances of performers trying to impress other performers. It's kinda like swooping a demo. It's not done for the crowd because they don't get it anyway. I keep telling the people i associate with that all I care about it how it looks from show center (and it can look very close and be very safe from that vantage point) and that the announcer remembers to mention my name :-).
It has been a bad week. I recall Bryan as being a heck of a nice guy. I never met Todd but I've been friends with Roger, the helicopter pilot, for years. I think there's even a pic on here somewhere of me hanging under Otto during an airshow.

You are only as strong as the prey you devour

[jrmrangers 0]

I saw all of these fatalaties on the news and i was shocked, condolences to all the families and freinds. Was the wing walker trying to transfer to the helo? Thats what it looked like in the videos i saw,

Wait , I pull what first?

[Galenis 0]

I know it is macabre but.....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpZ8Y_hwBsw&feature=player_embedded

It's time for my nightly ritual: Pleasure myself, weep, and repeat.

[wayneflorida 0]

Quote

I saw all of these fatalaties on the news and i was shocked, condolences to all the families and freinds. Was the wing walker trying to transfer to the helo? Thats what it looked like in the videos i saw,

Yes

[jtval 0]

Quote

Damn, Twardo, are the audiences expecting too much? Are we asking the performers to stand too close to the edge?

I appreciate the beauty of flight and the skill of the performers. I don't need to be chills and thrills. My condolences to all.

As a skydiver we mitigate risks to prevent unnecessary/unfortunate accidents.
I performed at the air show and hadn't yet seen Todd's act.
We were loading up to leave after our last performance when this happened.

There was a 15 kt crosswind. (coming from the west. they were flying south.) The first two passes were designed to build up the anticipation. The third, on this day, was his last.

I was very surprised to see that he had nothing but goggles and gloves on. It's definitely a sad day (weekend) day for the air show circuit but there's should never been pressure to perform when it overrides safety.

My photos

My Videos

[longtall 0]

Condolences

" 90 right, five miles then cut."---Pukin Buzzards