After the tornado at Sun 'n Fun destroyed or heavily damaged several Husky aircraft that Aviat brought to the show, another was lost in a crash while being flown back to the Aviat factory in Afton, Wyoming, only days after Sun 'n Fun ended.
The crash was reported on by the Laramie Boomarang online edition. The report incorrectly identifies the airplane as a Cessna 180, when photographs clearly show it to be a Husky. It was, in fact, the same Husky that Flying photographed on an air-to-air photo mission on the Saturday of the show. There are a number of seemingly inconsistent details that are known.
The crash took place near Laramie, Wyoming, approximately 350 miles east, southeast of Afton. There was light snow and limited visibility at the time of the accident, and photographs seem to indicate the airplane crashed in a near vertical attitude. The accident airplane, in fact, was a bush plane version of the Husky and was equipped with Bushmaster tundra tires, making an off-airport landing a relatively easy proposition.
The Boomerang identified the pilot and lone occupant killed in the crash as Blake Chapman. Chapman, who was a longtime Aviat factory pilot, was 73.
The NTSB is investigating.
