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Hangar Flying / EZ-RV mid air
« on: July 10, 2005, 10:52:01 PM »
LEWES, Del. - Two small planes practicing for an air show collided Sunday above Delaware Bay, killing at least one of the pilots, state police said.
Rescue crews retrieved one body and divers searched the waters near Cape Henlopen State Park for the other pilot until evening but were unable to locate the plane's wreckage, police said.
The two had been part of a six-plane formation of experimental "homemade kit" planes that took off from Sussex County Airport in Georgetown.
As the pilots practiced over the bay, Matt Colagreco and his grandparents watched from a ferry.
The six planes had been flying in two groups of three and crossed paths to merge momentarily, Colagreco said. After they came out of the merge, one pilot banked right in front of another and they collided, he said.
One plane turned over and nosedived into the water, and the other "was flopping out of control," Colagreco said.
"It was just like two toy planes hitting," said his grandmother, Nancy Beyers.
State police recovered the body of Jay Blume, 39, of Berwyn, Pa.
The other plane was registered to Ralph D. Morgan of Rehoboth Beach, Del., said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. She said the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating.
Rescue crews retrieved one body and divers searched the waters near Cape Henlopen State Park for the other pilot until evening but were unable to locate the plane's wreckage, police said.
The two had been part of a six-plane formation of experimental "homemade kit" planes that took off from Sussex County Airport in Georgetown.
As the pilots practiced over the bay, Matt Colagreco and his grandparents watched from a ferry.
The six planes had been flying in two groups of three and crossed paths to merge momentarily, Colagreco said. After they came out of the merge, one pilot banked right in front of another and they collided, he said.
One plane turned over and nosedived into the water, and the other "was flopping out of control," Colagreco said.
"It was just like two toy planes hitting," said his grandmother, Nancy Beyers.
State police recovered the body of Jay Blume, 39, of Berwyn, Pa.
The other plane was registered to Ralph D. Morgan of Rehoboth Beach, Del., said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. She said the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating.