Sad day...

[TX-Deck]

Just saw on the news where a man with the last name of Wylie, President of the Texas Air Aces, passed away today in a fatal crash while practicing flight maneuvers with a 39 year-old student.   My thoughts and prayers go out to both pilots and their respective families.

Side note:   All T-34 trainers were grounded four years ago due to a similar accident, and checked for metal fatigue within the airframe.  Eyewitnesses to this crash state that the wing severed completely off during flight, and airframe fatigue is initially suspected to be the cause of the crash in this situation.

S~

TX-Deck out.

[TX-FlightRisk]

Yes I had heard the same thing. S~TX-FlightRisk Black 3

[TX-Rahman]

I saw this on the news too....they said that at least one of the guys tried to parachute down but they were too low and already in the trees...  Kinda scary...I wanted to go do the dogfighter flights there....  Thoughts and prayers go out to the deceased and their families...  Salute..Regards,TX-Rahman"BLUE 2"

[TX-EcoDragon]

This is very unfortunate news, and very sad to think of their families, and yes, sadly the Beech T-34 has had a main spar failure once before, presumably when at G loads that are within the listed operating limits, this prompted mandatory inspections at shorter intervals, and many owners opted for spar retrofits from the Beech Barron. The accident airplane was one such aircraft with a Barron spar.Improper entry speeds, and/or excessive stick force can cause G loadings in excess of the certificated limitations even if the aircraft is in perfect condition. Don Wylie was an accomplished pilot, and has been giving mock-combat and emergency maneuvers training for many years now, and certainly should have no trouble keep tabs on G loads using the G-meter even if there is another pilot flying, however it may forever be conjecture as to if the spar failed when within or above it's G limitations. The aircraft was apparenly in mock combat with another aircraft, so that witness may be able to shed some light on the relative G loadings, perhaps helping in the determination of if it wass pilot error, or spar failure within listed limitations.If this flight was flown according to regulations then the pilots were wearing parachutes, however sufficient altitude is needed to bail, and there is the possibility that the forces acting on the plane post wing failure made exit impossible.Very tragic.May they rest in peace.S!TX-EcoDragonBlack 1TX Squadron XO

[TX-FlightRisk]

Here's the story.http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/page1/2236147S~TX-FlightRisk Black 3