The tiny, private dirt strip, 1,800 feet long, was way out in the boondocks. Oriented north to south, it was parallel to an unpaved county road and screened by a line of trees. By the other side of the strip to the east was a small crescent-shaped lake. Pine woods surrounded both, cleared for a few hundred feet at each end to open up the approaches to the runway. The landowner was an ex-airline pilot who now performed aerobatics in airshows. It was the kind of place where a person feels free to horse around and do what he likes.
Aftermath: Buzz Job
Key Takeaways:
- An experienced pilot and his passenger died when their Bellanca Decathlon crashed after a low-altitude "buzz job" maneuver, failing to recover from a wing drop during a climbing turn near trees.
- The NTSB attributed the accident to the pilot's decision to make a low pass and failure to maintain control at low altitude while maneuvering.
- The article suggests the pilot's attention might have been diverted by his audience, leading to a miscalculation of the complex, low-altitude maneuver rather than a simple stall or abrupt tree avoidance.
- Ultimately, the crash serves as a reminder that combining low-altitude flying with pushing performance limits, especially in front of an audience, is inherently dangerous.
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