Just looked it up. I was 7 and the accident was 1970
Sorry. I was confused. Another friend of mine was at the show, got there a little late and saw a couple sitting in their seats.
Made the call that ‘aw heck it’s a nice day I can see plenty well enough from here and it isn’t worth making a fuss’.
Not two minutes later, about the time he would have been down there discussing seating with the guy, Jimmy Leeward’s P-51 lost a control surface and crashed exactly where he would have been standing. The couple was killed outright.
I won’t say what my closest brush with death was but here is a couple Reader’s Digest versions of somewhat dangerous incidents I’ve had. . .
I was in the passenger seat, highly “scotched up” and staring at my feet, of a vehicle going 80 on cruise control when my friend decided it was time for a nap. Hilarity ensued. Thank you designated driver.
Before I got out of town after buying my first motorcycle and fancying myself sort of like Steve McQueen in The Great Escape I decided I’d give two girls in a silver convertible the thrill of me giving them some attention as they drove by. “Yah, they were totally checking me out. . .” When I turned my head forward I noticed the traffic in my lane had come to a stop. Over the bars and into the back of a station wagon I went. There was a bit of a scene as I lay on the road but the girls in the silver convertible doubled back and laughed at me as they passed by in the now creeping traffic.