F-14 CRASHES ,NAS WILLOW GROVE, P.A.

[Dave Shutter]

I just got home from the air show at NAS Willow Grove, PA. At the end of the show I watched a VF-101 "A" model doing a demonstration. After a mock carrier landing and waveoff, it cleaned up, banked, had what I'm quessing was an engine failure and then nosed down into woods and a huge fireball rose into the sky.

There was no visible ejection.

By the time I had gotten home the news was reporting both crew dead. I don't know if this will go national but I'll post any info from my local news after it airs tonight.

Prayers to the family members...

D



Edited by - Dave Shutter on 18 June 2000

 

[Dave Shutter]

This is just a news snippet off the website for a local station. Nothing I didn't already know but I'll post it for the forum members. I'm hoping there's more detailed information coming.

quote:F-14 Tomcat Crashes at Pa. Air Show;
Two Crew Members Dead

Sunday, June 18, 2000 By Bill Bergstrom

WILLOW GROVE, Pa. — A military plane crashed in the woods during an air show Sunday at Willow Grove Naval Air Station, killing the two people aboard, authorities said.

The F-14 Tomcat was taking part in one of the final performances at the Willow Grove 2000 Sounds of Freedom show when it went down at 4:43 p.m. in a wooded area near houses outside the base, which is 15 miles north of Philadelphia.

The fighter, based at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va., carried a pilot and radar intercept officer, said Mike Maus, a spokesman for the Naval Air Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, in Norfolk, Va.

"My information is that both souls on board were lost," Maus said. He said their identities would not be released until next of kin had been notified.

Emergency personnel at the crash scene reported two fatalities, and also said they were the pilot and crew member, said Levent Aydin of Montgomery County emergency dispatch services.

There were no civilian injuries, and no structures were involved.

Three emergency personnel were treated for injuries at the scene of the crash, and one of them, a military firefighter, was transported back to the base for treatment, Aydin said.

The Tomcat apparently was displaying a landing wave-off maneuver, coming in at slow speed, when trouble developed and it careened into the woods, KYW radio reported.

Debi Mullen said the fiery crash frightened her 5-year-old son, Kyle, who eagerly watches planes at the base and idolizes the flyers.

"He (Kyle) said to me, 'Who's the bad guy who hit him out of the sky?' said Mullen, 37, her eyes brimming with tears. "I said, 'There is no bad guy. He fell; it was an accident.' What a tragedy."

 

[O-man]

Thats sad- sorry to hear it. I am pissed that I did not hear about that air show- its about a two hour drive from me. I am wondering if maybe the aircraft lost an engine. The F-14 has its two engines so far apart that if they loose one, the flight characteristics are very diferent. I bet its even worse at slow speeds. Dave, you may already know- but the blues are doing a show at Coney Island on the 7th. I assume if you are near Willow Grove- you may be in reach of Coney Island as well. I saw the show last year, it was great- but you can't see them take off. I would really like to see that high performance take off that one of the solo's does. O-man

 

[Dave Shutter]

Just searched an airshow page and your right! Coney Island July 8&9, yes I'll be there and no I didn't know about it, thanx a mil O-man!!

And no...don't be pissed you missed this airshow.

Watching that huge ball of orange flame roll into the air, without a chute in sight, is one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen, especially since I was snapping pictures of the two suiting up on the ramp atop their plane, Gunfighter 101, ten minutes prior.

Be glad you missed it.

There was just home video footage of the crash on a 10:00 news show, it's hard to watch again. I don't even want to watch the 11:00 shows now.

...but your right about not hearing about it, I've been checking the NAS W.G. site regularly for weeks now (nothing was ever posted on the PAO page...good job guys) and only learned about the show from seeing it on TV Saturday, so I went today...lucky me.

D



Edited by - Dave Shutter on 18 June 2000

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Isn't VF-101 the Ghostriders? Anyway, we also lost an F-16 out of Luke AFB this weekend. I think it went down on Friday on one of its training missions. Thankfully, that guy ejected safely. All the best to everyone.

 

[Dave Shutter]

Ghostriders is...was VF-142, my brothers unit, dis-established in 95' "killed in their prime by a Navy without a dime" as the sayin' goes. Assigned to Ike in the Atlantic, they also served in Desert Storm.

VF-101 "Grim Reapers" is the RAG in Oceana, with 35 Tomcats of all models (34 as of today ) they're still very much in business as the Turkey will be kicking till 2006-2010,(from different E/F reports and VF sites I've read.)

The two units have very similiar logo's.

Check out their page and the grad photos...love those eighties haircuts!!!

NAS Oceana

D



Edited by - Dave Shutter on 19 June 2000

 

[Phoenix]

I´ve just seen the video on the news. Why the hell didn´t they eject? The canopy was turned upwards in the last 4 seconds. Things like that really suck!

DEATH FROM ABOVE!

 

[Dave Shutter]

There's no doubt in my mind that the crew (seasoned veteran intructors at the RAG) made a conscious decision to ride it in since when they lost power and banked, they banked off the base and towards a wooded residential area. I talked to one resident who was later on the news, he said it practically landed in his back yard but did missed his house completely. He and others at the scene couldn't believe that it didn't hit any of the several houses in that wooded block, it missed several houses by the smallest of margins. I feel that that's not just a fortunate coincidence, I think that the crew, with what little power they had left, purposely rode it into an empty area, just missing a municipal building.

...and yes, a slo-mo of the crash showed the canopy blowing off right before it went in the trees, but I'm waiting for the official crash report.

D






Edited by - Dave Shutter on 19 June 2000

 

[Tripp]

quote:
I feel that that's not just a fortunate coincidence, I think that the crew, with what little power they had left, purposely rode it into an empty area, just missing a municipal building.



Dave, unfortunately, is right. I saw a video on CNN taken from a different perspective (it looked like it was from someone's backyard) than the airfield...the Tomcat was pitching and yawing all over the place (while heading DIRECTLY over the photographer's head)...definately very scary. It really says something to the pilot's skill as an aviator that he was able to avoid any homes (must be something about airports...there are always houses nearby, for some odd reason) in that situation.

Prayers to their families...

 

[AJNorris]

Hello all-
I am a soon to be commissioned Marine and have a flight contract. I will also be married soon after commissioning. Every time a military related air tragedy occurs it is pasted all over CNN. Needless to say it is hard for my fiance because she knows that soon I probably will be undertaking those same risks. What do you all say to the people who care about you when they ask about your safety. Becoming a Marine and flying have been a dream since I was yea big, and she will support me no matter what, but I don't know what to say. Thanks for your help.

Semper Fi!

 

[Phoenix]

Well, if this helps AJ, there is still a bigger possibility of dying in a car crash than in a plane crash. But I don´t understand those pilots. They sacrificed their own lives for the lives of people they didn´t even know. It doesn´t get any braver than that.

Edited by - Phoenix on 21 June 2000

 

[Dave Shutter]

They released the names of the crew, and the pilot was from NJ (they announced the names of the crew before the performance and I remembered the pilot being from NJ) a local news channel did a story on him last night that was really touching, they showed his high school pictures and talked to his sister and grandmother.

Here is another text story from that channels website with their names.

quote: KILLED IN THE crash were 30-year-old Lieutenant William Dey of Hightstown, NJ and 31-year-old Lieutenant David Bergstrom of Annandale, Va.
Both pilots were assigned to Fighter Squadron 101 from the naval air station in Oceana, Va.
The military continued to investigate the details of the crash on Monday. However, no one was willing to speculate on the cause of the deadly accident.
“We were watching the planes and we saw them get really low,” a witness said. “We just saw all this smoke and the fire go above the trees.”
The image of two aviators falling to their death did not fade.
“I looked out the window and I saw a fireball come over the trees,” a witness said.
Some witnesses called the pilot a hero for narrowly missing homes and businesses.
The crash occurred at about 4:45 p.m. ET Sunday after the plane seemed to lose control with no altitude to recover. The plane then turned upside down and righted itself before disappearing behind some trees not far from town homes.
“We do have a mishap board of officers that are here conducting the investigation,” Sherri Jones, air station spokesperson, said.
Officials did not release any details of final communication or a possible cause.
They said that both officers on board had over 2,600 flying hours between them. Both were instructors.
After the crash the future of air shows at Willow Grove is questionable.

The channel showed poll results after the spot on whether on not the air show should be cancelled in the future and it was 70-30 for the show.

Looks like there's still a bit of patriotism left out there after all, eh Q.

Prayers to the families, best to all...

D

 

[Dave Shutter]

Phoenix: I understand what you said about being proven right, and no, I myself don't take it the wrong way. Regardless, you might want to consider editing some of you remarks out of respect if for no other reason.

D

 

[Phoenix]

Roger Dave. Won´t happen again.

DEATH FROM ABOVE!

 

[Tripp]

More info on the aviators killed in Sunday's crash...
quote:
F-14 Airmen Identified

The U.S. Navy pilot who was killed in a Father's Day crash in Pennsylvania has been identified as 30-year-old Lt. William Joseph Dey, attached to Fighter Squadron 101 at the Oceana Naval Air Station in Oceana, (VA). His radar intercept officer, 31-year-old Lt. David Erick Bergstrom, 31, of Annandale (VA), also died in the crash, which was precipitated by a planned "wave off" at the Willow Grove 2000 Sounds of Freedom airshow. Both were eight-year Navy men. Dey left behind a wife and 18-month-old daughter. Dey was an instructor in F-14s, and had 1100 of his 1400 total flying hours in the Tomcat, according to the Navy. He typically flew two dozen or so airshows a year. He had flown in the Balkans, and reportedly was being considered for a tryout with the Blue Angels.

One more thing, and we can't confirm it: there has been a single a report of "a burned piece of equipment that appeared to be an ejection seat" found nearby.


Edited by - Tripp on 21 June 2000