| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 382.1 | I witnessed it, unfortunately. | ISLNDS::DEMARS | | Tue Jul 28 1992 09:41 | 5 |
| The accident took place at the corner of Great Road and Mill Street,
not Maple. My husband and I witnessed it as we were driving along that
part of Great Road. My husband stopped to see if he could help.
Toni
|
| 382.2 | | SPIDR::SNOW | | Tue Jul 28 1992 10:26 | 5 |
|
A co-worker spotted a sign about an air show or something of that sort
at Crowe Island. Was this associated with that? All I had heard was
a short notice on the radio yesterday about a Maynard man being killed
when the wing folded.
|
| 382.3 | Don't think there was an Air Show. | ISLNDS::DEMARS | | Tue Jul 28 1992 10:32 | 4 |
| I don't believer there was an air show at Crowe last weekend. There is
an "Auto" Show being advertised this weekend at Crowe Island.
Toni
|
| 382.4 | | MILPND::BENHAM | | Wed Jul 29 1992 08:13 | 2 |
| I heard that he was performing some kind of stunt when one of his wings
folded back. Did anyone catch the name of this person?
|
| 382.5 | Partial explanation | OLDTMR::BUSCEMI | | Wed Jul 29 1992 13:21 | 28 |
| I asked a friend of mine you flies there if he knew anything about it.
Here's his mail message.
*************
it was an ultralight, not a hang glider. there is an antique auto show at crow
island this weekend - no air show, and this accident had nothing to do with
next week's auto show (obviously).
the pilot was Johnny Loretta. I knew him casually - he was a longtime
ultralight pilot who used to fly a lot, back about 5 years ago when ultralights
were very popular. he hadn't flown much recently.
he went out and buzzed an outdoor party being held across the street from his
house. his wife, daughter, and friends were all at the party. he did it to
himself - he was doing low altitude, high speed aerobatic maneuvers. he pushed
the plane way past its design limits - a full power dive will pull the wings
off almost any airplane eventually.
absolutely no idea why he was doing this stuff. he was not a wild pilot. he
knew the limits of both the plane and himself, and he was normally a very
careful guy. they're looking for extenuating circumstances, like other things
that might have been going on in his life...
feel free to set the record straight in the notes file.
-s.
|
| 382.6 | From the Paper and Conversations | AKOCOA::THORP | | Wed Jul 29 1992 13:31 | 21 |
|
According to the Middlesex News (fine line here on what I've read and
heard), he was flying low over a birthday party at the Mill St address
and waiving (he lived around the corner and his daughter was attending
the party) Witnesses stated that his engine stalled, restarted, and
stalled again. There was also the report that his wings collapsed.
My understanding is that, barring any structural damage, he should have
been able to glide if his engine went out.
The paper cited him as being a hero, a few feet more to one side and he
would have crashed into the tables where the party was going on and
injured more people.
Within half hour before the accident, he'd been buzzing the tree tops
along the Assabet. Its like something was bound to happen to him. Its
a shame just the same. I don't recall his name but have it in the
paper at home. He lived on Pine St.
Chris
|
| 382.7 | Chimneysweep? | CTHQ1::DELUCO | CT, Network Applications | Thu Jul 30 1992 08:51 | 4 |
| If I'm not mistaken, was John Loretta was the owner of Minuteman
Chimneysweeps? I believe he installed my wood stove many years ago.
Jim
|
| 382.8 | | MRQUIS::MCGOLDRICK | | Thu Jul 30 1992 10:57 | 9 |
|
My wife and I were walking down Main St. from Mill towards town
~7:30. We watched his maneuvers for a couple of minutes, and
remarked to each other how uncomfortable his 'acrobatics' made us.
I'm not a pilot, but he just LOOKed like he was pushing it too hard
and on the verge of losing control. I guess that's the excitement
of 'barnstorming', though. :v(
Less than ten minutes later the fire engines were racing by.
|