WIX Archives
Pilot Identified
Posted by B Darnell on Tue Aug 05, 2003 03:19:59 PM
In reply top Hughes Replica posted by Cindy on Tue Aug 05, 2003 11:07:45 AM
My sympathies to the Wright Family.
Replica of Howard Hughes plane crashes in Yellowstone
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) - Authorities on Tuesday identified a plane crash victim as an Oregon man who helped design and build the craft, a replica of a 1935 racer flown by oil and film industry tycoon Howard Hughes.
James Wright, 53, of Cottage Grove, Ore., died when the plane, a replica of the Hughes H-1B, crashed about 6:30 p.m. Monday in Midway Geyser Basin about five miles north of Old Faithful, park officials said.
The plane was en route from an air show in Oshkosh, Wis., to Oregon, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Karen Byrd said.
The plane approached from the west about treetop level just south of the basin parking area, officials said. It apparently struck on the west side of the Firehole River and came to rest on the east near the main park road, which was closed for about five hours after the crash.
The airplane burst into flame upon impact, but the fire was quickly extinguished by park staff. No one on the ground was hurt.
Debris was strewn throughout the area and the engine and a wing landed in the river. Some fuel leaked into the water and on the ground.
Yellowstone officials said the engine was removed from the river Monday night to prevent further leakage and that cleanup of spilled fuel would be done as quickly as possible.
Several park visitors witnessed the crash and phoned 911.
Because the road was not reopened until midnight, some RVs were allowed to park in the Old Faithful parking lot for the night.
Hughes designed the original H-1B, which is on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. In 1935, Hughes flew that aircraft to a speed record and for a brief period was the fastest person ever to pilot an airplane.
The replica was built from scratch in 2002 by a five-man team in Oregon that included Wright. The team spent hundreds of hours studying photographs, drawings, test results and measurements of the original plane, according to a Web site detailing the reproduction work.
Federal investigators were expected to arrive in the park Tuesday.