Replies

Tucker Gives Harrowing, Heartfelt Account Of Bailout
Fri, 07 Apr '06

"I'm Thinking, 'Maybe I Can Still Fly It"
Less than 48 hours after he was forced to bail out of his beloved Oracle Challenger aerobatic biplane in the skies over western Louisiana, Sean Tucker was in the media room at Sun 'N Fun, recounting the event for the reporters gathered.

An obviously relieved -- and still slightly adrenalized -- Tucker described the events leading to the bailout Tuesday morning.

"The wings were flying, and the aircraft was going like this," Tucker said, his hands displaying a steep climb attitude the Challenger took moments after the incident occurred. "Then it's getting ready to stall, then I push it down... soon I'm over 1,000 feet, and that's a pretty good feeling. I've got some time."

Tucker had lost all pitch authority over the Oracle Challenger through the control stick. Using trim, he was eventually able to put the aircraft into a stabilized climb... during which time he explored his options.

"I'm thinking, 'maybe I can fly it," Tucker said. "I was trying to figure out how to fly the airplane, because this airplane was absolutely the most magical piece of equipment I'd ever gotten to fly in my life."

"But every time I got it to about 100 miles per hour, it just kind of wants to stall," Tucker continued, as he seemed to fight back tears. "The trim just couldn't keep up."

Listen To Today's ANN Special Feature -- Sean Tucker's Tale, In His Own Words

Tucker had an almost excruciatingly long amount of time -- 25 minutes, he estimates -- to consider his options. His ground crew guided him away from areas populated with people and obstructions, and was able to close down a major highway as a possible landing site.

It was clear to Tucker, though, that landing wasn't an option... and he prepared to bail out.

"I was able to get her to descend slowly, and that's when you start thinking about a lot of stuff... like "I could die from this," Tucker said. "Before then, it's all instinct."

Tucker gave his ground crew a message to relay to his wife and kids -- just in case -- and he also had to confront the fact he was about to lose his airplane.

"And I still don't want to get rid of my lady," said Tucker of his beloved airplane. "She was such a fine piece of equipment."

Following the emergency checklist ("I distinctly remember, 'turn off the mags in an emergency!'" Tucker laughed) time seemed to slow down for Tucker. "I wanted the dream to end," he said. "I was waiting for God to come along and say "I fooled you!"

Tucker ejected the canopy -- which hit his head, thankfully protected by a helmet -- and prepared to bail out.

"When I left the plane, the only mistake I made was the left shoulder harness was still dragging on my shoulder, which kind of tripped me," Tucker said. "So when I left the plane, and I kind of rolled [to the left] and got stuck on some flying wires underneath on the tail."

"The interesting thing," Tucker said, his voice quieting, "because I was going the same speed as the plane, we were totally together... and it just took one hand, it wasn't a big deal, I just kind of pushed it like that... and she said 'okay,' and she pushed off to the right."

And that was it. As Tucker pulled the ripcord on his parachute, the Oracle Challenger rolled back to the left, and fell. He didn't see the plane impact the ground... which was probably just as well.

Tucker was able to make a safe, controlled parachute landing ("unfortunately, I didn't stand it up -- I slid") in a field.

"First I just really want to go home," Tucker said about his future plans, before adding he would stay through the week at Sun 'N Fun as part of his Columbia 400 safety tour. He hopes to continue this show season with his backup airplane, while the team looks to build a new primary aircraft.

Tucker believes a rod end bearing connecting a modified torque tube linkage on the aircraft's new tail failed.