Author Topic: Crash in training at the Reno Air Races today  (Read 20387 times)

Offline rbrong

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Crash in training at the Reno Air Races today
« on: September 06, 2008, 03:17:16 PM »
A pilot went down in Stead (4SD) today while training for the air races.  Here's a link to an article in the local paper: http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080906/NEWS18/80906020

If anyone happened to hear the clip please pass along a time and/or a post.  I'm going to comb through the archives for KRNO and see what we get.

Here's to the pilots for pursuing their dreams.

- RB



Offline rbrong

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Re: Crash in training at the Reno Air Races today
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2008, 08:09:22 PM »
From the Reno Gazette Journal today (www.rgj.com)

September 6, 2008

Idenity of pilot killed today revealed

By Kristin S. Larsen
klarsen@rgj.com

Reno Air Races officials revealed that 32-year-old Erica Simpson died when her airplane, “Little Lynn” crashed at 9 a.m. this morning.

Federal Aviation Administration Ian Gregor said the wings broke off her aircraft as she was performing a roll near Reno Stead Airport.

She was undergoing a check ride in her homebuilt, single engine-plane in preparation for the upcoming Reno Air Races. Race officials were observing her as part of the certification process that pilots go through before they’re allowed to perform in the races. Four FAA safety officials were present when the accident occurred.

Simpson, hometown unknown, was a certified flight instructor for glider, instrument and multi-engine airplanes. She piloted 68 different aircraft types, 5 of which she flown solo for the first time. Additionally, she taught aerobatics, tailwheel, towed gliders and flew over 7,000 hours and was rated as an airline transport pilot (ATP).

Reno Air Race official Valerie Miller said, “the pilot was doing what the pilot loved to do.”

According to Simpson’s Web site (http://riraaerobatics.com/index.php), being a pilot was her dream career.

Some details from the site:


 When she was young a math teacher was an inspiration, advising her to find something she would like to do for free on a Saturday afternoon. Make into a career, and it will not be a job. She wrote that aviation fit that desire.

“I believe that success is not determined by our careers, but whether we live our lives the way we have wanted to,” Simpson wrote. “Try for something you love and take the chance of regretting it later, rather than regret not trying for it at all.”

 She is the first aerobatic pilot in the family and a third generation pilot. Erica got her first taste of flight in the Taylorcraft owned by her father and grandfather, parking the airplane in a farmer’s field in the summer and in their Wisconsin backyard on skis in the winter.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
Dick Jones, a crew member of a T6 Class plane out of Denver, witnessed this morning's fatal airplane crash at the Reno Stead Airport.
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"It looked like she was she was going to do a roll and the wings broke off," Jones said. "It just came apart."

Anita Marie Day of Bakersfield, Calif., the wife of a pilot who flies the Warlock 75, said, "We're all just saddened by the whole thing. We don't want to see or hear about it happening. They're all our friends out here and we don't like losing anybody."

 

Offline bsmith19

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Re: Crash in training at the Reno Air Races today
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2008, 09:49:37 PM »
Well after hunting through the archives of KRNO, I was able to find what seems like 2 people communicating with each other trying to direct emergency personal to her location.  And then it ends with the guy trying to get someone off the runway before there is another accident.
« Last Edit: September 06, 2008, 09:55:03 PM by bsmith19 »

Offline Jason

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Re: Crash in training at the Reno Air Races today
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2008, 10:25:37 PM »
What a shame, my thoughts and prayers go out to Erica's friends and family.  Coincidentally, Erica flew for the same company that my dad flies for since November of 2003, and he met her a few times in Orlando during recurrent training over the years since.  He was also saddened to hear the news, as were his other co-workers.

Be safe out there...

Best,

Offline bsmith19

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Re: Crash in training at the Reno Air Races today
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2008, 03:50:35 AM »
From what I've read she was an amazing pilot, she will be missed: