Stearman Aircraft Crashes At Dayton Air Show
Killing Pilot And Wing Walker
By
Shane Nolan
June 22, 2013 - The 2013 Vectren Dayton Air Show
presented by Kroger was cancelled today after a
stunt went very wrong. Horrified onlookers
watched in disbelief as a stunt plane,
performing barnstorming tricks crashed killing
the pilot, Charlie Schwenker and a wing walker,
Jane Wicker.
Wicker, a wing walker was sitting on the wing of
a Stearman 450 HP airplane, the aircraft was
flying inverted and extremely close to the
ground when it suddenly crashed into the ground
around 12:45 PM. Both Wicker and Schwenker were
killed upon impact, the aircraft burst into
flames.
Event organizers reported the accident was
isolated and no other injuries were reported.
The FAA and other officials are on site
investigating the incident. The air show which
began at 9 AM and was to end at 6 PM. However,
officials announced that the Saturday flying
show has been cancelled and normal operations
will resume on Sunday.
The Vectren Dayton Air Show is an annual event
held at the Dayton International Airport in
Vandalia, Ohio, eight miles north of Dayton,
Ohio. The history of flight exhibition dates
back to 1910 and the Wright Company. Dayton is
the hometown of the Wright Brothers and is where
Orville and Wilbur built their first powered
plane. The show's main sponsor is Vectren and it
is considered to be one of the country’s premier
aviation events.
Vectren Corporation is a Fortune 1000 energy
holding company headquartered in Evansville,
Indiana. Through its utility subsidiaries
(Indiana Gas Company, Southern Indiana Gas and
Electric, and Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio),
the company distributes natural gas to
approximately one million business and
residential customers in Indiana and Ohio. It
also distributes electricity to 141,000
customers and has 1,425 MW of primarily
coal-fired generating capacity in Indiana.
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