Thunderbird F-16 Flips at Dayton Airshow

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Airshow4444
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Post by Airshow4444 » Fri Jun 23, 2017 8:33 pm

Latest from the Thunderbirds. Pilot and Maintainer on board at the time.

https://www.facebook.com/AFThunderbirds ... 3158909246
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Airshow4444
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Post by Airshow4444 » Fri Jun 23, 2017 9:16 pm

Thunderbird #1 says that injuries are non-life threatening. Backseater had no visible injuries. Doing "just fine." Pilot had lacerations and injuries to leg but is in stable to good condition and doing well.

Pilot was Capt. Erik "Speedy" Gonsalves. Tech Sargent Kenneth Cordova was the backseater. He was on a familiarization flight.

Pilot: http://afthunderbirds.com/site/team_mem ... gonsalves/
Maintainer: http://afthunderbirds.com/site/team_mem ... h-cordova/

Plane took off around 10:30 am this morning. Weather at the time met the criteria for the flight. He flew an instrument procedure approach to recover to the base. Mishap happened after landing on Runway 6L.

An accident safety board will investigate and the results will be made public.
Last edited by Airshow4444 on Fri Jun 23, 2017 9:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Airshow4444
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Post by Airshow4444 » Fri Jun 23, 2017 9:25 pm

Thunderbird #1 says that the team will NOT be flying on Saturday. Unsure if they will fly Sunday.
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RyanS
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Post by RyanS » Sat Jun 24, 2017 8:39 pm

The Thunderbirds announced on Facebook that they will not perform on Sunday. Of course this was only announced after the Saturday show had concluded. "Speedy" remains in the hospital.

https://www.facebook.com/AirshowStuff/p ... 45/?type=3
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awal2049
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Post by awal2049 » Sat Jun 24, 2017 10:58 pm

I keep reading that the Thunderbirds have been "grounded" after the crash. Does that mean they'll just sit the weekend out or will there be a mandatory stand down period like last year?
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RyanS
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Post by RyanS » Sun Jun 25, 2017 4:04 am

awal2049 wrote: Sat Jun 24, 2017 10:58 pm I keep reading that the Thunderbirds have been "grounded" after the crash. Does that mean they'll just sit the weekend out or will there be a mandatory stand down period like last year?
I don't expect it will last past this weekend, but I'm not surprised they canceled these two show days. We'll see if they announce anything further I guess
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Post by RyanS » Sun Jun 25, 2017 11:26 pm

I just shared this video on our Facebook page, the flipped F-16 is definitely done for! They broke the entire front of the fuselage off from the rest.

https://www.facebook.com/AirshowStuff/p ... 1041107345
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Post by RyanS » Sun Jun 25, 2017 11:27 pm

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Post by RyanS » Tue Jun 27, 2017 1:49 am

Looks like the wreckage photos and video have been removed, but good news is that the team will return to flying operations with a practice tomorrow!

https://airshowstuff.com/v4/2017/thunde ... -incident/
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