I just now got back on the ground in Columbus and haven't searched news sites yet.. Wanted to come here first..

I'll post a report about the trip with MANY photos later, but first I have to report, and ask if anybody has heard details.. about a horrific accident. An Avenger taxied up on what looked like a Vans  and the prop ripped through it. I'll I can say is that it didn't look good.. We were on a our way back to General Aviation Camping to get the tent down and the plane loaded and take off before they shut down arrival/departures for the afternoon show..


Edit:  Here's the first link that Google found:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Airshow_Fatality.html

I'm kinda in shock..

I hate to sound like "one of those people" but man, there were a lot of (fatal)accidents at or related to Airventure this year... This one is particularly bad; I don't even want to think about what an Avenger prop would do to an RV...   
It's a double-bummer, because this event has such an excellent record under very demanding conditions. Let's hope the strong reputation of the EAA keeps the "Chicken Little" panic at bay...
Glad you flew in and out unscathed; must have been a little less than relaxing at times.
Eagerly awaiting your debrief...

I was eating lunch when it happened, and I heard two guys that worked there talking about it, and all they said was a warbird had just hit an Vans something or another, and one was dead for sure.  That wasn't too long after it had happened, so I don't think it was a very pretty sight.  I'm really glad I wasn't down at that end when it happened.  Literally minutes before that my dad and I were walking towards the runway from Aeroshell Square and we came to the part where the airplanes taxi out onto 36-18, and we were trying to decide to go left and watch the airplanes take-off and land, or to got right, and right then I got really hungry, so we went to the right to get something to eat.  If we had gone left we would have been right there when it had happened, so I'm glad we didn't.

I took a picture of where it was going on, but I didn't really feel like taking pictures was the right thing to do...


It really has to be difficult to see out of those warbirds, because they're so high, and they're tail-draggers, so they can't see out the front.  I don't know what they're supposed to do to see anything in front of them while they're taxiing.

I saw the entire accident from 15 feet away. An awful sight that I will never forget. May God be with the pilots and the families of those involved.

Bill Beseler
Pilot
American Virtual Airshows

From what I saw the avenger was taxiing at under 5mph, or a brisk walk which is how you are suppose to taxi. The taxi way was to narrow for the Avenger to do S turns and never saw the stopped RV. From seeing it I dont blame the pilot of the avenger but I am writing a letter to EAA asking them for next year to have wingwalkers guide big taildraggers like that out to the runway so something like this never happens again. Hopefully they listen to my suggestions because I hope this never happens again.

Bill

That's pretty much why I don't think I would ever fly anything less than an F-15 there.

Makes me shudder to think of it. I was going to keep quiet as I have never been to Oshkosh & it's far bigger than anything I have experience of. It's easy to be wise after the event but where you have such a large number of different types operating from the same taxyways & runways I don't think you can rely on ATC & radio alone. Taildraggers are not easy to taxy at the best of times & it would be even more difficult in something the size of the Avenger. It would be impossible to see over that nose so it's obviously highly dangerous to taxy in a restricted or crowded area. This is where a team of experienced ground marshals & wing-walkers is essential. IMHO

PS. Accidents like this only take a second's loss of concentration even when you can see directly ahead. I recently posted some shots of what happened at Shoreham when a Yak 52 Yak 18T taxied into the back of a Diamond Star waiting to take off. This was during a quiet period when they were the only two aircraft on the taxiway. Fortunately the Yak braked immediately so there was very little damage & no injuries but that big prop would have soon made mincemeat of the DA40.