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Airshow Accident Claims Stunt Pilot’s Life

By Chris Swanepoel
Published on: 14:13 PST, May 15, 2016

An Airshow ended in tragedy on Saturday when an experienced stunt pilot lost his life in a ball of flames as he failed to maneuver out of a steep dive, reports the NY Daily News. Peachtree-DeKalb Airport director Mario Evans said this was the first accident in the air show’s 30-year history.

https://youtu.be/pZl1F9MOJeo

The stunt pilot, identified as Greg Connell, was a highly respected member of the stunt flying community, who started his career 27 years ago training with local legend Al Patton.

An eyewitness known only as Super SpotterATL said: “As he comes out of a 180 turn he spirals down and crashes. I’m sorry I didn’t get the impact but I was in total shock, sickened by what I witnessed as I saw one of my worst fears come true.”

The eyewitness had met Connell the previous year, and said he was a nice guy who loved what he did. “I won’t get into extremely gory details but I think it might have been a mechanical failure.” He said when asked about the cause of the accident. “The winds had no effect and planes were performing fine all day when they were at their worst early afternoon. He came down spiraling fast and tried to recover but couldn’t.”

Another eyewitness, Sarah Ngungu, said her 2-year-old son was in a stroller, and she managed turn him away immediately after he’d seen the plane make contact with the ground. “We are doing our best helping him work through it,” she said. “We’re just trying to make sure he knows that he’s safe and that even though sometimes scary and sad things happen, he can always talk to us about it,” Ngungu went on to say. “He’s definitely more clingy today and getting tons of extra reassuring hugs, kisses and cuddles.”

The sequence of events leading up the the crash can be seen in a video shot taken by a spectator. The two planes criss-cross close to the ground, one climbing steeply and diving into the wind, while the other does not manage to pull back, and ploughs into the ground.

“It happened right in front of where I was standing,” said Starr Jones of Atlanta, “It was awful. It was two tiny planes that were doing stunts, they kept crossing paths and the next thing you know one of them touched the ground and started rolling and rolling and then burst into flames and the plane just tore apart.”

According to the show’s emcee, WSB radio announcer Mark McKay, the plane hit the ground and broke into pieces. “I see a tyre fly off and then it catches fire in the grassy area,” he said. His colleague, WSB radio announcer Scott Slade, then took over on the microphone.

“Ladies and gentleman, I want you to turn your children away from the field,” he announced.

The crash occurred during a tandem performance featuring Connell and his friend and mentor Gary Ward. Gary continued with the stunt unaware of the crash. “Greg flew underneath me and I had no idea Greg crashed like a second later,” he told WSB-TV. In another interview with Channel 2 Action News, he said he didn’t hear any calls of distress over the radio or know his friend was in trouble.

Connell performed his stunts in a customized Wolfpitt kit with his company Greg Connell Airshows.

In a Facebook post on Greg Connell Airshows, fans were requested to “keep Greg’s family and friends in your prayers. There are no words to describe what happened.”

An investigation to determine the cause of the crash, which could take up to a year to complete, has been opened by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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