P-51D Mustang Crashes in Texas. Two Dead. [Update]

Kinja'd!!! "ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
11/19/2018 at 09:30 • Filed to: Planelopnik

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A P-51D Mustang, Pecos Bill , from the group Freedom Flyers and piloted by Cowden Ward, crashed into an apartment building parking lot in Fredericksburg, Texas on Saturday , killing Ward and his passenger. Nobody on the ground was hurt. The aircraft was returning to the airport following a flyover at the National Museum of the Pacific War, and the passenger was a WWII veteran B-17 pilot who was along for the ride. No cause of the crash has been given , and the NTSB is investigating.

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https://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Pecos-Bill-Owner-Vet-Killed-In-P-51-Crash-231868-1.html


DISCUSSION (19)


Kinja'd!!! f86sabre > ttyymmnn
11/18/2018 at 11:40

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:(


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > f86sabre
11/18/2018 at 11:41

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Indeed. 


Kinja'd!!! Cé hé sin > ttyymmnn
11/18/2018 at 11:46

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Sadly planes this age don't have a good safety record.


Kinja'd!!! TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn
11/18/2018 at 12:05

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Such sad news.  I thought this might be the P-51 hangared at David Wayne Hooks, but it’s not. I saw him just yesterday.


Kinja'd!!! Spaceball-Two > ttyymmnn
11/18/2018 at 12:06

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That’s awful. I’ve been around that plane a number of times. So sad.


Kinja'd!!! Dusty Ventures > ttyymmnn
11/18/2018 at 13:24

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Jesus, whatever happened it looks like that thing must have come down fast and hard based on that crater


Kinja'd!!! Urambo Tauro > ttyymmnn
11/18/2018 at 13:44

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Damn, the wreck is completely unrecognizable . I take it planes like this wouldn’t have a flight recorder, huh? I fear the investigation won’t have much to go on, except for radio communications and service/inspection records.


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > Urambo Tauro
11/18/2018 at 14:06

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No, I don’t believe they are required to have a CVR or FDR. There will be witness reports, and NTSB investigators can discover an awful lot from the state of the engine/controls/gauges at the time of the crash. It could be anything from an incapacitated pilot to an engine failure to a broken control cable. I will update if I hear anything. 


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > Dusty Ventures
11/18/2018 at 14:08

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Yup. Looks like it nosed in.


Kinja'd!!! Urambo Tauro > ttyymmnn
11/18/2018 at 14:18

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It blows my mind that they can hope to learn anything from those items. I would imagine that the force of the crash would knock everything out of position and render that info totall y unreliable . But maybe they have ways to account for that.


Kinja'd!!! Spaceball-Two > ttyymmnn
11/18/2018 at 16:11

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A little more reading and I think it was Pecos Bill and not Valhalla. Still tragic


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > Spaceball-Two
11/18/2018 at 16:57

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Okay. Info has been scarce. Thanks. 


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn
11/19/2018 at 10:08

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So sad. May Ward and his passenger rest in peace.  


Kinja'd!!! kanadanmajava1 > Spaceball-Two
11/19/2018 at 10:11

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I w a s a c t u a l l y w o n d e r i n g f r o m t h e y e ste r d a y ’ s p i c t u r e s w h y t h e c o l o r i n g d i d n ’ t m a t c h w i t h t h e w r e c k a g e and Val-halla . I w a s just t r y i n g t o f i g u r e o u t w h a t p a r t i s t h e b i g g e s t p i e c e l e f t b u t c o u l d n ’ t f i g u r e o u t w h a t i t w a s d u e t h e d i f f e r e n c e s .


Kinja'd!!! Spaceball-Two > kanadanmajava1
11/19/2018 at 11:14

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Valhalla is local to me and I was watching local news to see if it got any coverage. So sad. We’re losing great people and airframes.


Kinja'd!!! Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > ttyymmnn
11/19/2018 at 12:10

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Two years ago Big Beautiful Doll crashed; I knew Nick Tramontano and had flown with him in his Twin Beech. I didn’t know Jeff Pino - I’d only been at Sikorsky for a year at that point and Jeff was no longer president. It’s gut-wrenching to read about another warbird and crew lost to an accident.


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom
11/19/2018 at 12:34

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It wasn’t that long ago that we lost Galveston Gal, too. 


Kinja'd!!! kanadanmajava1 > Spaceball-Two
11/19/2018 at 13:36

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Yeah, very sad. Q uite a lot of old planes have come down during the last couple of years.


Kinja'd!!! Spaceball-Two > ttyymmnn
11/21/2018 at 14:16

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It appears prior to his passing, Mr. Allen has acquired a JU-87

http://warbirdsnews.com/aviation-museum-news/junkers-ju-87-unveiled-at-flying-heritage-combat-armor-museum-hangar-opening.html


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