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Written by Delon Shurtz
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Saturday, July 24 2010, 8:54 PM |
The Canadian Forces pilot who crashed Friday at the Lethbridge County Airport was still recovering at the Chinook Regional Hospital Saturday.
“He’s in good spirits,” said Capt. Holly Brown, public affairs officer at the 1 Canadian Air Division operations headquarters in Winnipeg, Man.
Although unable to discuss Capt. Brian Bews’ specific injuries, Brown said he is doing well, and friends and family are hoping for a quick recovery and a swift conclusion to the investigation. She said Bews is fortunate to have survived the incident, which happened low over the airport about noon Friday.
“We’re so relieved.”
Brown said flight safety investigators have “been deployed,” and should be in Lethbridge this weekend. She pointed out Bews was well-trained for the stunt he was practicing, but “something happened,” to make it go all wrong.
Bews was practicing for the Alberta International AirShow a High Alpha Pass, a common stunt in which the pilot brings the plane in low and relatively slow with it’s nose angling sharply upward, then swiftly shoots vertically into the sky. During the practice run, however, instead of soaring skyward, the aircraft tilted to the right and plunged to the ground where it exploded in a ball of fire and black smoke.
Bews managed to eject just as the plane tilted, but he was shot out horizontally and then dragged by the wind after he hit the ground, fortunately away from the burning plane and scattered debris.
Witnesses said everything seemed to be going fine with the stunt until the jet unexpectedly turned, giving the pilot only about two seconds in which to eject before the craft smashed into the ground, next to one of the airports’ runways.
“It seemed like its engine failed and it tipped,” said Matthew Wallocha, who was helping another air show pilot prepare his glider for the show and watched in disbelief as the F-18 exploded on impact.
The investigation into the cause of the crash continues.
The military and air show officials decided later in the day to proceed with the air show, which went off without a hitch Saturday in front of thousands of spectators.
Many of the acts performed over the crash site, where much of the Hornet’s tail section remains.
Air show president Robb Engen said the incident hasn’t marred the air show, and may have even attracted a few more people because of the national attention the crash received.
“People are coming to see that,’ Engen said. “We’re having a phenomenal turnout.”
Although people won’t be able to see the F-18 perform, a second jet has arrived and will be part of the static display on the runway.
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