Posted on 03/18/2010 3:42:32 PM PDT by EveningStar
Two veteran pilots -- one a Bakersfield-based national champion in 2004 at a Reno air show -- were killed Wednesday in a World War II vintage airplane they've flown countless times before, according to friends at the crash scene in a canal and open farm field behind the Frito Lay plant.
Al Goss, 68, the owner of the blue North American AT-6 (Advanced Training) "Texan" that was based in Shafter's Minter Field, and Steven Ballard, 54, a FedEx pilot from Anchorage, Alaska who worked on Goss's "Warlock team" at Minter Field, died at 11:34 a.m. when the AT-6 broke into several pieces, reported friends and the Kern County coroner's staff.
(Excerpt) Read more at bakersfield.com ...
Blue skies, Al.
Aviation ping
I don’t run this ping list. I copied it from Aeronaut’s profile page.
Prayers for family and FRiends. Thanks for the Ping ES...
Al Goss met him once will remember him forever. Mrs. Al baby and I were there the same year and he gave us shade and cold water to watch Dasher Race
Blue Skies, Al Goss.
Warlock was always a favorite at Reno.
Prayers and well wishes to Al’s family.
>> Troy Tenhet: ... the AT-6 broke into several pieces ... the crash made no sense unless something mechanical broke ...Nothing on the plane was old except the frame ... [the pilot] would take no risks.”
>> Witnesses: ... the plane was flying fast and fairly low when it dipped, came back up and then crashed ... it lifted up and it looked like it went up too fast and too quickly ... it just slipped backwards and went into the ground ... the plane went low, back up, then down and up again just before it crashed ...
After 47 years in the cockpit (I started flying at 18), holding an A&P, an ATP with 5 type ratings, having owned two long in the tooth airplanes (a 1946 Cessna 120 and, currently, a 1976 ASW-19 glider), and after having lost 7 friends in crashes, I have grown tired if the likes of Mr. Tenhet’s comments.
Here are my comments:
1/ There are old pilots, and bold pilots, but no old,bold pilots.
2/ Aviation is unforgiving of carelessness and neglect.
3/ These aircraft were designed in the mid ‘30s an built out of ALLOY (read mixed-metal - as in “battery” in the presence of salt and moisture). Whatever happened to “I’m old, please be gentle with me”?
>> Troy Tenhet: ... the AT-6 broke into several pieces ... the crash made no sense unless something mechanical broke ...Nothing on the plane was old except the frame ... [the pilot] would take no risks.”
>> Witnesses: ... the plane was flying fast and fairly low when it dipped, came back up and then crashed ... it lifted up and it looked like it went up too fast and too quickly ... it just slipped backwards and went into the ground ... the plane went low, back up, then down and up again just before it crashed ...
After 47 years in the cockpit (I started flying at 18), holding an A&P, an ATP with 5 type ratings, having owned two long in the tooth airplanes (a 1946 Cessna 120 and, currently, a 1976 ASW-19 glider), and after having lost 7 friends in crashes, I have grown tired if the likes of Mr. Tenhet’s comments.
Here are my comments:
1/ There are old pilots, and bold pilots, but no old,bold pilots.
2/ Aviation is unforgiving of carelessness and neglect.
3/ These aircraft were designed in the mid ‘30s an built out of ALLOY (read mixed-metal - as in “battery” in the presence of salt and moisture). Whatever happened to “I’m old, please be gentle with me”?
I heard from a reliable source that crew chief Steve Ballard was piloting and Al Goss was in the back seat.
Is it possible the oscillations were caused by a pilot who had a stroke, heart attack, or other medical syndrome which caused him to lose control?
Very, very, very sad news for all who knew him. Prayers for Baby Goss...
I agree, and nice to see you, Teeny. :)
>> Is it possible the oscillations were caused by a pilot who had a stroke, heart attack, or other medical syndrome which caused him to lose control?
Well, it’s hard to speculate - we won’t have the accident report for quite a while - but if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say it would more likely be the result of the dreaded “watch this” syndrome (normally associated with our more Southerly compatriots). If it were a heart attack, I’d say that the other pilot could probably force the stick where he wanted to in that case.
>> Se dice: “Es de bien nacido, ser agradecido.”
And so I am - I treasure the years I spent with these aviators, I mourn their passing, and I long for the years we could have spent since their last days on earth.
R.I.P.:
Les Bennett and crew - Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Bruce Balkum - Florida Everglades
Pat Spomer and fiancé - Tenerife
Atlanta Skylarks (Independent Air) crew - Azores,
and two fellow airline pilots in airshow aircraft
I’ll speculate:
The lady witness said the plane crossed the highway headed west at low altitude then turned and came back across the highway to the east.
Al Goss was a crop duster pilot.
Sounds like he was doing some mock dusting didn’t see a power line.
We won’t know for sure for some months
but if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say it would more likely be the result of the dreaded “watch this” syndrome (normally associated with our more Southerly compatriots).
IIRC, that is “Hold Muh Beer”, followed soon after by “Now, Ya’all Watch This!” syndrome.
The Coroner’s report should be ready much sooner than the FAA’s report.
bookmark
RIP.
I went to the site. No powerlines.
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