German Pilot Killed in Polish Air Show Tailspin

[kellyhound]

Tragedy struck during an air show in northwestern Poland as a German pilot, formerly associated with Lufthansa and believed to be in his 60s, met with a fatal accident while performing an aerobatic stunt in a Soviet-era Yakolev Yak-52 plane. The incident occurred near the city of Plock, approximately 110 kilometers from Warsaw.

The harrowing moment unfolded when the pilot's aircraft unexpectedly entered a tailspin during a maneuver, ultimately hurtling into the River Vistula. Shocking footage captured the plane's sustained 20-second spiral descent before it disappeared beneath the water's surface.

Subsequently, divers conducted a search operation and discovered the pilot's lifeless body amidst the wreckage, submerged approximately eight meters underwater.

Organizers of the air show, initially set to showcase around 40 aircraft, decided to cancel the event in the wake of the tragic crash. While the victim, who was the sole occupant of the two-seater plane, was an experienced pilot, the circumstances leading to the loss of control over the aircraft remain unclear.

Polish investigators have announced their intention to meticulously examine images and footage from the crash scene, and if necessary, collaborate with their German counterparts to gather further insights into this unfortunate incident.

[Xploit Machine]

museum ------> that way

[himself]

Yet another Stuka shot down over Poland.

[durt]

A little late on the spin recovery?

Nice clip/post KH, thanks.

[William May]

Awesome video, Kellyhound!! Some of the best crash video I've ever seen. I watched it several times to see if there was any movement of the ailerons, rudder, or elevators, and didn't see any. Wonder if the guy had a heart attack or a stroke and was unconscious. A normal pilot going in would be flailing the controls all over the place to avoid dying.
Also, this is a really good training plane, so should have been easy to recover from a spin in. They have imported a lot of these Yak 52's into the U.S. and also the Chinese version, which is the CJ-6.

[Yanni]

Originally Posted by William May

Awesome video, Kellyhound!! Some of the best crash video I've ever seen. I watched it several times to see if there was any movement of the ailerons, rudder, or elevators, and didn't see any. Wonder if the guy had a heart attack or a stroke and was unconscious.

right aileron is down, left aileron is up, which is reflected in the movement of the airplane. rudder looks a bit to the right at times. but then right at the end the plane seems to reverse its corkscrew and level out a tad...might have even recovered if it had some more air.

i'd say maybe he got in over his head with aerobatics, or else had a brief medical incident and recovered, but too late.

[gimlet]

Did the plane start to recover just a second before impact?

[dropkic]

Originally Posted by gimlet

Did the plane start to recover just a second before impact?

It looked like it to me but obviously to late.

[><0300><]

There's nothing you could have done Maverick

[Aries85]

Aim higher next time