Fatal P51 crash

[W5]

P-51D Mustang Down In California

Pilot Lost In Takeoff And Landing Drills

Officials have released the name of the pilot of a P-51D Mustang who died in
a Sunday morning accident at Camarillo Airport.

John McKittrick, 42, was at the controls when the warbird crashed at 0815
PDT Sunday morning. Sources tell ANN McKittrick had "several hundred" flight
hours in other types of aircraft, though this was his first time soloing the
P-51.

Eyewitnesses tell ANN the accident occurred during McKittrick's first
landing attempt, when the aircraft began porposing on landing, and the pilot
tried to stop the plane before running off the runway.

FAA spokesman Mike Fergus told the Fresno Bee the McKittrick's flight
instructor "told the tower that the student pilot was going to make
patterns" before the accident.

The accident occurred Sunday morning at 0820 local time.

IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 51TK Make/Model: P51 Description: P-51, F-51, A-36
Mustang
Date: 07/15/2007 Time: 1505

Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Substantial

LOCATION
City: CAMARILLO State: CA Country: US

DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT ON LANDING, CRASHED AND CAME TO REST INVERTED, THE ONE PERSON ON
BOARD WAS FATALLY INJURED, CAMARILLO, CA

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA
Activity: Training Phase: Landing Operation: OTHER


FAA FSDO: VAN NUYS, CA (WP01) Entry date: 07/16/2007

Original Report
An early Sunday practice flight at Southern California's Camarillo airport
has ended tragically for the new pilot of a P-51D Mustang. According to
media and eyewitness reports, the aircraft was engaged in takeoff and
landing transitions when the aircraft went down just after 0815, Pacific
time.


The as yet unidentified Thousand Oaks California pilot, 42, was reportedly
killed on impact. ANN News-Spy and media eyewitness reports seem to agree
that the aircraft had apparently attempted a landing, and either bounced or
ran into some issues therein and thereafter added power to either go-around
or extend the landing when the aircraft appeared to roll-over and impact the
ground, and come to rest inverted.

Impact forces were severe, causing the aircraft airframe to come apart, with
the powerplant coming to rest several yards away from the rest of the
airframe. Media reports indicate that the aircraft took most of the impact
force along its left hand side as it rolled over while a fair amount of the
right structure appears fairly intact.

The aircraft is identified as "LOU IV" and had recently been seen in the air
during a Camarillo Fly-In. A P-51D Mustang nicknamed LOU IV originally
served with the US 8th Air Force's 375th Fighter Squadron of the 361st
Fighter Group in the UK.

Reports indicate that the pilot had been flying with an instructor just
prior to the accident. According to Captain Mark Taillon, Ventura County
Fire Department, the instructor disembarked from the aircraft and notified
the tower that the pilot "was doing his first solo flight" in the aircraft.
The FAA's Mike Fergus, reported that the instructor "told the tower that the
student pilot was going to make patterns."

ANN is researching this accident and will have more information available
shortly.

[Tubthumper]

...bummer..

[Mitch Cronin]

Yikes! Bummer indeed! Sounds like he may have went for a go around with a mit full of throttle and torque-rolled it... ?

[Tubthumper]

...that's what I was thinking....

[Doc]

Large cheque book....low skill level. They don't make P51's any more.

[Tubthumper]

[Hedley]

P-51's cost enough (a friend of mine recently bought one for US$1.4M) that usually the people who can afford them, do not have the pilot experience and skill to fly them. I have yet to meet a billionaire with an ICAS card.

Personally, I have flown a P-51 (actually a two seat dual control TF-51D) and apart from it's interesting stall behaviour (caused by it's nlf wing), found it about as difficult to land as a C185. Mind you, plenty of people manage to somehow muck up landing a C180/185, too