Rutan Extra 300 chrash

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Article Last Updated: 08/16/2006 07:10:07 PM PDT

Plane crashes during aerobatics; pilot hurt
BY CHARLES F. BOSTWICK, Staff Writer

 
 
MOJAVE - An aerobatic plane that was used as a chase plane in test pilot Burt Rutan's historic 2004 space flights crashed and caught fire Wednesday outside the grounds of Mojave Airport, seriously injuring its pilot.
The pilot, whose name was not immediately released, was pulled from the wreckage by firefighters, who also extinguished the small grass fire the crash started.

"He crashed while he was performing aerobatics," Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.

The injured pilot was flown by helicopter to Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, Kern County sheriff's Sgt. Richard Wood said. Officials at Scaled Composites, Rutan's Mojave-based company, had no immediate comment.

The single-engine Extra 300 airplane belongs to Chuck Coleman, one of Scaled's design engineers. Scaled said it was used to train Scaled's  
 
 
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pilot/astronauts before the SpaceShipOne rocket plane flights, and also flew with the SpaceShipOne rocket plane at the end of its flights to assist the rocket plane pilot in landing.

Kern County officials said they did not know why the plane crashed. National Transportation Safety Board officials were called in to investigate.

The crash occurred about 1 p.m. Wednesday about 200 yards north of the airport's northern fence, sheriff's officials said.

[allen]

I was in California recently. Since I had time on my hands and had not been to the airport in a while I thought I would stop by and visit. I met the Mercy Air folks and they were kind enough to give me a tour of their chopper. Great folks doign a really tough job. My thoughts are with the pilot.
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MOJAVE - Pilot Chuck Coleman remained in critical condition Thursday at Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield after suffering injuries in an Aug. 16 plane crash.
Coleman, a design engineer with Scaled Composites in Mojave, was practicing his aerobatic act for an upcoming performance when his Extra 300 crashed about two miles north of Mojave Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash that destroyed Coleman's bright red-and-blue aerobatic aircraft. He was the only occupant of the two-seat airplane.

Coleman was airlifted to the hospital by Mercy Air, which is at the airport. The team was first on the scene, partly because its members already were preparing to board the helicopter to attend a meeting when they witnessed the crash.

The crew noticed an airplane flying unusually low, said Steven Karnazes, business development manager for Mercy Air. Moments later, they saw it plunge into the ground.

"We were able to lift off immediately," Karnazes said, and arrived at the crash site within 30 seconds.

The air ambulance crew includes a paramedic and a registered nurse. The addition of a flight nurse is what makes the Mercy Air operation unique. The nurses are qualified to perform advanced life-saving procedures not permitted to paramedics, such as inserting chest tubes.

This advantage was put to use in Coleman's case, as the nurse was able to perform a rapid sequence intubation in which the victim is paralyzed with drugs in order for the nurse to insert a breathing tube. This procedure is done with victims who are still conscious, as Coleman was when the air ambulance team arrived.

"There are advantages to having the air service on the airport," Karnazes said.

Coleman's airplane is familiar to the thousands who witnessed the historic spaceflights of SpaceShipOne, in which Coleman flew chase in the Extra.

agatlin@avpress.com