Płock, Poland: An experienced aerobatic pilot crashed during the air show

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Jun 18, 11, 23:15 #1

18.06.2011
Fragments translated from: http://www.tvn24.pl/-1,1707401,0,1,nie-ma-mowy-o-brawurze-zabraklo-szc zescia,wiadomosc.html

An aerobatic airplane Christen Eagle II N54CE, piloted by Marek Szufa fell into the Vistula during aerobatic show in the V Air Picnic in Płock. After several tens of minutes of rescue by divers and reanimation attempts on a beach of Vistula the pilot was taken to a hospital. Unfortunately, he died after a few minutes.

Mark Szufa was a multiple Polish champion in flying models competitions, a pilot and a builder of small amateur-built aircraft replicas. He was also an aerobatic glider pilot - a former vice-world champion, and a multiple member of the Polish aerobatic team. Szufa was also a pilot of an aerobatic aircraft (multiple vice-champion and member of the Polish National Team), as well as a demonstration pilot at many air shows. Since 1979, he was a pilot of the LOT Airline, and since 1990 he was a captain of the Boeing 767 airplane.

Mr. Szufa once wrote on his website: "Aviation has always been and is my greatest passion."
(…)
Krzysztof Zalewski of the magazine "Aviation," said: - If you would like to maintain the highest safety level the maneuvers they should be carried at high attitudes, but then the public would not see them well and they would not be so attractive to viewers.

He added, however, that "maneuvers at low altitude are not necessarily dangerous, but sometimes one runs out of the flier's luck."

RIP

wildroverThreads: 180 Posts: 8,188 Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂	Jun 18, 11, 23:25 #2
Sad news... He looked a bit low going into the last manouver , but that black smoke mixed in with the white display smoke might suggest an engine failure.... sadly display flying carries a risk....

wildroverThreads: 180 Posts: 8,188 Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂	Jun 20, 11, 17:48 #3
The latest report says that the aircraft did not suffer any failure or malfunction , so it looks like the pilot simply went into a manouver with not enough height to complete it safely.... Looking at the video it seems that a mere 25 feet higher and he would have got away with it....

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