T-28 crashes after tree-strike flypast, Guatemala 10th March 2019

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''Spectators gathered to watch performances at the National Motor Sports Championship in Guatemala, witnessed a plane crash. According to local media , last Sunday, March 10, the T-28 Trojan piston aircraft under the command of Rodrigo Ibarguen was running a flight program. During the execution of one of the elements, the pilot made a collision with a tree, almost hitting the rostrum with people, after which the aircraft crashed onto the road. From his injuries, the pilot died. The second dead was the aviation mechanic Pablo Guillain, whom Ibarguen took with him on the flight.''

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytkgEidtWNs&fbclid=IwAR3jiiChdrveWenN1VJekhMaDFmcvwlNdnLGOzSo-B36GzYR2b2xG8K4r40

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18 years 5 months

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Several video clips have been published and some are graphic.

For anyone not wishing to watch, the pilot makes several extremely low diving passes flying directly over the stopped race cars and over the small grandstand area. The direction of travel is directly toward the grandstands. On both passes the plane nearly pancakes into the trees behind the stands, and this is what happens on the second pass. On the second pass the tall pines directly behind the grandstands shudder with the impact as the plane strikes the ground. There is no post-crash fire.

Other videos show people running and driving to the impact area with mangled bits of aircraft in the road. Both occupants are lying several meters from each other and people begin to give first aid to one occupant who is still strapped in a seat resting with bits of fuselage.

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11 years 11 months

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If you remember the airshows of sevenies here in Europe, there were also very interesting performances.....I remenber a B17 and an A26.

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18 years 10 months

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After he hit the trees, he went through a concrete wall next to the road.

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15 years 2 months

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After he hit the trees, he went through a concrete wall next to the road.

Wonder if the pilot who survived was able to tell what went wrong...before dying to his wounds ?

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Well this got weird quickly. A bit of respect maybe?

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14 years

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Talking about how somebody died. Weird. Inappropriate. Mawkish then.

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15 years 2 months

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Talking about how somebody died. Weird. Inappropriate. Mawkish then.

Are you not interested what causes these accident ?

20-100 people were about to die there.

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20 years

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The cause is reasonably self-evident ( if you can allow setting aside medical incapacitation and structural/ control issues ) .

Rodrigo Ibarguen had big flying accidents in 2015 and 2017, and his flying style was very 'flamboyant', shall we say.

In a regulated display arena, such as the UK for instance, he would have been red-flagged for....

1. An unsafe manoeuve with a high rate of descent, and a desperate recovery and though he did not quite hit the ground, he did impact terrain

2. Performing a figure with a deliberate on-crowd vector. He missed the packed stands by a wingspan, and only by chance.

3. Flying a display with a passenger on board.

It is very sad. The only good that could come from it is to reinforce and promulgate established safe practices in future display flying.

Member for

18 years 5 months

Posts: 233

The cause is reasonably self-evident ( if you can allow setting aside medical incapacitation and structural/ control issues ) .

Rodrigo Ibarguen had big flying accidents in 2015 and 2017, and his flying style was very 'flamboyant', shall we say.

In a regulated display arena, such as the UK for instance, he would have been red-flagged for....

1. An unsafe manoeuve with a high rate of descent, and a desperate recovery and though he did not quite hit the ground, he did impact terrain

2. Performing a figure with a deliberate on-crowd vector. He missed the packed stands by a wingspan, and only by chance.

3. Flying a display with a passenger on board.

It is very sad. The only good that could come from it is to reinforce and promulgate established safe practices in future display flying.

Well said. Maybe this accident will stress the need for safe display flying policies in other countries. That was some of the most dangerous flying I have seen outside of Waldo Pepper.

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15 years 2 months

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Well said. Maybe this accident will stress the need for safe display flying policies in other countries. That was some of the most dangerous flying I have seen outside of Waldo Pepper.

Yes I agree...but what makes him fly towards the grand stands..he usually likes to impress with very close flying, but not totally "killing" ?

One chap recently said he blacked out after the incident.

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No - me neither. Answers on a postcard.

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18 years 10 months

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There's another one down in LA this evening at Compton Airport. Details are a bit sketchy, there's one fatality & there was also a Cessna involved. At this point they aren't sure of the sequence of events & one source mentioned it may have been a midair. T28 looks intact on the gear & minor fire damage.

Edit:
T28 was on approach & hit a Cessna. Cessna is all burned up. Both aircraft on the airfield, Fatality appears to have been in the Cessna.

Edit #2: Cessna was on the runway when it was hit

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19 years 5 months

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Anyone who flies regularly from a busy uncontrolled field has worried about an occurrence such as this. Sad to see it on video.

During my helicopter training, c I worried about something like this...I wasn't too worried about hitting someone, after all I had great visibility and could instantly stop, but I was concerned about a faster fixed wing perhaps coming from my back.
With a spinning (translucent) rotor and nearly invisible tail boom in my Bell 47, there wasn't much to see...especially facing into the setting sun.

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14 years 10 months

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I rather enjoyed the spirited flying in post #3,, thoroughly enjoyable.. In a "regulated" display arena, such as the UK for instance, you could get red-flagged for starting the engine!! I have quite a dislike for the heavy handed "'elf and safety" climate that has been created over the yrs. I enjoy going to airshows and understand there is a certain amount of risk from doing so, when it gets to the point that they have become boring due to the "guidelines" of bureaucracy why bother going.

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My advice has always been, "Turn early and don't hit anything."

Works in airplanes, and boats too.

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This horrible runway collision highlights an aspect that the pilot in command has in many situations the ability to transmit direct to other aircraft when time is of the essence. This enables a quick confirmation of position where doubt exists.eg "Nine Tango Mike have you vacated the runway ? " or in the case of circuit de confliction " Golf Tango Echo from India Romeo ,whats your height? " Sadly many pilots are reluctant to use radio unless air traffic is doing the talking.

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19 years 5 months

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My instructor taught me to always announce intentions on the unicom...even if we were the only aircraft in the pattern.
Using a headset/microphone it was easy to do while keeping my hands on the controls and it helped trained me to do...and think...of doing several things at once.