5 dead after crash at "fly-in" community runway

ap wire ^ | Jan. 26, 2008 | ap

[stboz]

Definitely Darwin.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Was alcohol involved?

[steve86]

Prayers offered no matter how stupid it was.

[driftdiver]

“As it neared the end of the runway, the car traveled off the end of an 85-foot high embankment. It became airborne for 200 feet and struck a large tree.”

I wonder if a JATO rocket was involved somehow. :)

[A.A. Cunningham]

Not breaking news: runway

[Dagnabitt]

Absolutely. Horrible news for several families.

[Old Sarge]

It became airborne for 200 feet

Guess they forgot to stick their arms out during the takeoff roll...

[CindyDawg]

Probably not Darwin...just kids. You never “raced” on empty road,parking lot or run way? When I was a young girl I drove my Dad’s truck ,hours at a time on the run way. Sad for them though.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[Rush4U]

As my old First Sergeant used to say during our safety briefings before a long weekend: “Nothing good ever happens after midnight”

[keeper53]

you were never young, eh?

These Darwin posts always sicken me. They are not clever at all.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Amen to that. It is their job to keep young men from doing something stupid that ends life way to early.

[Gamecock]

As my old First Sergeant used to say.....

Was my dad your First Sergeant?

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Point taken. I didn’t mean to offend anyone, but I can see that I may have done so. I’ll ask the mods to remove my post. Thanks.

[MindBender26]

Google Earth Travolta’s house alongside runway at 29 16 41 North - 82 06 59 West, complete with his own Boeing 720 (ex Quantas) in front yard.

[Polybius]

Was alcohol involved?

No. They asked bystanders to hold their beer before they crashed.

[burzum]

As it neared the end of the runway, the car traveled off the end of an 85-foot high embankment. It became airborne for 200 feet and struck a large tree.

Just doing a rough estimate, but if they fell 85 feet and traveled 200 feet laterally then they left the embankment about 59 mph and hit the tree at about 77 mph. Any BMW could easily do 120 mph or more. Unfortunately the stopping power does not increase linearly with momentum. It would take roughly 4 times as long to stop at 120 mph as it would at 60 mph. I'm guessing that they were probably driving faster than 100 mph and underestimated the distance it would take to stop the vehicle.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Well, then this needs a “hold muh beer” tagline at the top.