Spitfire crash

[pineridge]

Reports of a Spitfire fatal crash on landing at Tynset, Norway at 1730 GMT today. Sorry, no more details.

[EpsilonVaz]

An article in Norwegian En død etter krasjlanding på Tynset | www.retten.no (http://www.retten.no/lokale_nyheter/article5233720.ece)

Translated using Google:

http://g.api.no/obscura/www.retten.no/708x708r/03398/1282415342000_aaaafly_ho_3398039708x708r.JPG
One dead after crash landing on Tynset

One person is dead after a plane crash at Tynset Saturday afternoon. Police operations headquarters in Hamar could just after 19 PM Saturday night confirm that one person is dead.

The plane should have tipped around and crashed in connection with the landing at the airstrip at Tynset which is a button mil south of Trondheim city. Accident should have happened around the clock 18.45.
The deceased was alone in the plane.

There must be a veteran, specifically a Spitfire fighter aircraft of the type that was used in World War II, which has crashed.

Sunday will be held at a larger flystevne Tynset airport, and it is probably one of the older aircraft will participate in which has tipped around.

[mintpro172]

thats really sad. There is a spitfire being rebuilt at Ardmore in New Zealand since it crashed on landing last year. No injuries though.

[AKchain]

Very sad indeed

Appears to be the biltema spitfire with swedens most experience pilot at the time
(Bertiil Gerhardt)

Biltema Air Show (http://www.biltema.se/Documents/airshow/airshow.htm)

Saw this spitfire only a couple of days ago near my home :(

[G-CPTN]

Aircraft registered in Sweden and pilot Swedish.

Eye witness saw it coming in 'high' over the landing strip before veering off into a cornfield and tipping over.

An airshow was planned for tomorrow . . .

[M609]

The a/c did a overfligt at high alt, then a low pass, then repositioned to land. Landing was well in, and it ended up overturned in a field next to the rwy.

At least that's what media says

Having landed a 172 there a couple of times....

There is a
bit of terrain surrounding the field, but not that bad

I've met the pilot severeal years ago when he flew the J-29 out of Angelholm, great guy.

Sad news indeed

[nomorecatering]

Hope it wasnt SM845....arguably the most beautiful spitfie in the world.

[Gummer Bump]

nomorecatering

Regret to say it was.

Bad news

[teleport]

Expressen.se picture
Svensk man död i flygolycka - Nyheter - Senaste nytt | Expressen - Nyheter Sport Ekonomi Nöje (http://www.expressen.se/Nyheter/1.2105703/svensk-man-dod-i-flygolycka)

[MJet]

The pilot was one of the most experienced pilots in northern Europe. +30k Hours on +60 different types. His last equipment; one Falcon 7X, two Spitfires, one P51 Mustang...

RIP BG!

[Hakan Olsson]

My first post in this forum and it's a sad one.......

It was confirmed in public a couple of hours ago that the pilot was Bertil Gerhardt.
The aviation community in Sweden has lost one of its great profiles.

Ljungbyhedsflygare omkom i kraschen - hd.se (http://hd.se/skane/2010/08/22/ljungbyhedsflygare-omkom-i/)

[M609]

Webcam from the airfield:

http://www.tynsetflyklubb.no/images/webcam.jpg

If media reports are to be trusted, the aircraft ended up at the far end of the runway in the picture. Rwy starst approx 50m outside the frame on the right

Map/arial view:

Finn Kart (http://kart.finn.no/?lng=10.66702&lat=62.25662&tab=search&zoom=17&mapType=finnraster&markers=10.78241,62.27594,r,Tynset%7C10.66861,62.25692,b,Tyn set+Airfield%7C10.66670,62.25745,r,Brukerdefinert%7C10.67432 ,62.25881,r,Brukerdefinert&activetab=search)

[M609]

The Norwegian AAIB has released a pic of the aircraft after it was righted with a crane and rolled to a hangar

http://gfx.dagbladet.no/labrador/130/130682/13068258/jpg/active/960x.jpg

[JEM60]

I know it's the usual speculation, but IIRC in most nose over accidents, the fin collapses, and traps the pilot in a very bad position, bent over in a position where breathing becomes very difficult, or even impossible, e.g. Paul Morgan in his Sea Fury at Sywell a few years ago, Skyraider pilot in the States at an Airshow, a Harvard in the U.K. I would suggest that this may well be the case here. Sadly, all life has a risk element to it.

[IO540]

This pic (http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/annu-oklart-om-vad-som-orsakade-spitfirekraschen-1.1157483) shows possibly something not right with the landing gear?

[kalleh]

This pic (http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/annu-oklart-om-vad-som-orsakade-spitfirekraschen-1.1157483) shows possibly something not right with the landing gear?

But in the article text the crash investigator says he is certain, although not 100% sure, nothing was wrong with the gear because when they rolled the aircraft to the hangar everything looked fine.

[A37575]

crash investigator says he is almost 100% certain nothing was wrong with the gear

That picture is shortly after take off. It is quite normal for one gear to retract more slowly than the other. DC3 landing gears typical examples.

[M609]

http://g.api.no/obscura/www.retten.no/708x708r/03399/1282542645000_flykrasj_hoved_3399620708x708r.jpg

http://www.ostlendingen.no/polopoly_fs/spitfire-1.5557370!/image/1680046726.JPG_gen/derivatives/derivative_780/1680046726.JPG?modified=1282484441000

[doubleu-anker]

That poor pilot probably got his neck broken or was unable to breath, as pointed out above.

Very sad indeed.

[forget]

I know it's the usual speculation, but IIRC in most nose over accidents, the fin collapses, and traps the pilot in a very bad position, bent over in a position where breathing becomes very difficult, or even impossible

A question for those in the know. I'd be surprised if the original aircraft design didn't consider this. So far as I know this design included a sheet of armour plating to protect the pilot's head from 6 o'clock incoming. Is it possible that this plate was, in fact, dual purpose, the secondary purpose being pilot protection in a full nose over. Is it possible that the plates have, mistakenly, been removed as redundant?

[treadigraph]

This picture (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Spitfire_F_XVIII_SM845.jpg) of SM845 shows the armoured plating in place post restoration and I would be surprised if it had been subsequently removed. The severity of the damage to the fin suggests to me that the force of the impact sank the armored plate into the earth.

So sad.

[Flyingmac]

Tynset from the air. Tynset Flyklubb - Banerenovering (http://www.tynsetflyklubb.no/artikler/banerenovering.htm)

[AerialNinja]

What a shame