Klerksdorp Airshow Crash 30 June 2012

By Steve Jacobs
Klerksdorp
30Junie2012

[@myricalmusic666]

Damn this brings back memories. I was there that day, an 11 year old boy watching the show with my dad and grandpa. What a tragedy! Now I'm a commercial pilot myself, grandpa passed away and dad's getting old. Time flies.

[@chriskelly6285]

Poor guy. The only consolation is he would have only been aware for at most 2-3 seconds that he was in peril and he would have went out in a millisecond. That aside this is a tragedy and the world lost a great aviator. Love to his family and friends

[@asewanywa11]

Hits you in the pit of the stomach. Condolences. He died doing what he loved. It was over in an instant - he didn't suffer pain.

[@maxmoritz5065]

Stupid doing what he loved Comments. He died failing in his hobby. What a looser

[@leon4000]

Man be silent. When did people get this disrespectful? Very easy to talk trash behind a computer.

[@maxmoritz5065]

@@leon4000 when people start fake crying like this?

[@leon4000]

@@maxmoritz5065 All I know is this. Pilots, Wingsuit flyers, anyone that does anything death-defying...they have their reasons why they want to see the world in a different way or wow the crowd, facing their own fears and they knew that for something like that even one thing that goes wrong can get them injured, wounded, or worse death. It's not a laughing matter nor should it be a disrespectful one. These people had more courage facing their fears than some people who struggle with it and at worst, never overcome it. Granted all of that can be done on the ground, but some people prefer to push their own limits in ways that's never been done. At the very least there should be respect for the dead despite some of their choices that put them closer to death just one mistake away. Even if some people are right about certain choices, the way they carry their tone is disrespectful. So cut some of the deceased guys a break. They're gone and that's it.

[@reinhart482]

leon4000 when did people get disrespectful? 2016 US election didn’t help...

[@SteamRebornWatch]

damn that is still shocking today watching this back

[@timheidel5849]

Has there ever been an air show since 1986 where the soundtrack from "Top Gun" is not played? Ironically, according to the accident report, the crash was similar to the one in the movie, where Maverick flew into Iceman's "jet wash" and lost control...except Maverick had some altitude and time to eject...

[@brutallyremastered4255]

Imagine getting killed to some obnoxious American kiddie flick soundtrack...

[@pilsnrimgaard2507]

Great shot of the tent.

[@vanillachungus9546]

TREMENDOUS

[@clearair]

Show some respect.

[@svda814]

clearair no one cares tho

[@hyperu2]

The video was pretty in tents

[@leifvejby8023]

We saw enough. Plenty. Looked like one more stall / spin accident.

[@basimpsn]

He pull a little too hard to finish the loop and the Jet snap. Sad to see that.

[@jonathanvandagriff7515]

Dude I would much rather just listen to the music than hear a loud, clipping announcer talk every second.

[@spearmantoast]

Legend! Doing what he loved, so sad for his family and friends and all the flying community.

[@maxmoritz5065]

Derk doing dangerous things and died because of bad skills... Leaving his family alone. Having money and a license doesnt buy you skill.

[@leon4000]

I get that people point this out, but apparently it bothers someone to not leave it alone. It's already enough that it happened. People whoever do this to whoever says dying doing what they loved. Give it a rest.

[@FlightData101]

I doubt very much that he was loving it at the end.

[@Vinterbukser]

Well, better than "dying doing what you love" is "doing what you love and not dying". To be fair, though, the comment says 'doing what he loved' and not 'died doing what he loved'.

[@teijaflink2226]

Yeah very sad, it really looked like a beautiful, awesome show. But this must be extremely difficult and everything has to be perfect.

[@unclebill1948]

Ironic that the music playing was Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone".

[@teijaflink2226]

What a beautiful show, incredibly sad that it ended this way, everything really has to be perfect, it's very hard and dangerous.

[@thebrummierailenthusiasts5329]

I’m now hoping that everything is fine after that incident

[@flymachine]

I was there working behind the flightline - I’ll never forget it RIP

[@AsFewFalseThingsAsPossible]

Danger Zone--how ironic...

[@andrew42000]

Actually, that was the opposite of irony.

[@DEeMONsworld]

I'm here for the living room expert analysis.

[@djxsquizit]

He was F.U.I... (Flying Under Influence)

[@bazg6596]

Oh come come, these are all seasoned flight sim players!

[@coscrupi]

Lol

[@michaelmcgann1814]

Duan Strydom Has offered his babble on the event

[@jacquespg]

This was on my birthday when i was 8 years old we came to see the show That was my uncle

[@Kencio26]

SMEF Spade Rest In Peace

[@maxmoritz5065]

Your uncle couldnt fly bro.

[@Kencio26]

@@maxmoritz5065 POS

[@definitiveenergy1]

So sorry you had to see that on your birthday. I'm sure he was a great guy!

[@theprinceofliberia6793]

Was that kind of of accelerated stall? Seemed like he pulled up to catch up inside loop like some guy Commented and was that kind of an accelerated stall?

[@Say_No-2_Animal-Abuse_]

3:20 The lead pilot's voice is so sad.

[@GuyFromSC]

Did they ever mention what they think caused the impact into terrain? For such an experienced pilot, I’d like to think he didn’t g-loc there. Was in a mechanical failure or he get spatially d in the smoke? That last “roll to the right” that you hear from flight lead seems to indicate that he was trying to roll right but he must’ve not released how low he was. I have no clue and would love to know from anyone that knows what caused this unfortunate incident. Does the L-39 have a HUD where the combination of the smoke and the direction of the sun blind him temporarily or lead him to believe he was higher? Either way, it’s always very unfortunate loosing a pilot and to all of those in the comments section that was there that day, I pray that this didn’t negatively impact you too much. I sure can’t imagine witnessing something like that live. Peace & love, Blue skies & Nickel in the grass. 🙏🏼

[@chipcity3016]

From what I can tell he had two serious issues that lead to the accident. 1. The tail end of the loop got way too tight on him and so he pulled too much elevator and exceeded the planes critical angle of attack and stalled the wings. 2.-to make things worse he was tangled up in dirty air from the leading plane, this made his recovery from the stall impossible at that low altitude. Note to pilots it is excessive elevator input that stalls a plane, not low airspeed. There is no such thing as stall speed. Only stall angle of attack. Most pilots have no clue on this fact. unfortunately that includes this poor guy.

[@elroyal1]

Someone's read the instructions😂😂

[@asya9493]

Or more precisely, exceeding stall angle, but that is directly related to stick position. Notice how in the first part of the sequence they were in a good formation but #2 began to lose horizontal and vertical position more and more up to the excessive elevator input that caused the G-stall. I'd give pilot incapacitation a big vote here, stating well before the impact.

[@thebrummierailenthusiasts5329]

I can’t believe that aircraft has crashed right infront of thousands of people watching the show

[@issam76]

"Please remain calm" Oh yes thank you for the reminder

[@Aaron199s]

R.I.P

[@Raptorman0909]

Looks to me that the formation was busted about 2:25 or there abouts and from then the second pilot was playing catch up with the lead. The final dive had the second pilot inside the loop then moving outwards to get into position then needing to over g the plane to match the leads radius. Pilot may have passed out from that over g.

[@rnzoli]

Exactly my thinking, although the pilot was consios according to the final report, because he broke the stall and rolled back wings level before hitting the ground.

[@toddmccowen8206]

WHYYY?! DO THEY PLAY MUSIC AT air SHOWS ???

[@leifvejby8023]

To annoy people, and make them stay at home

[@stevetheduck1425]

It keeps those who know what they're looking at away. Good commercial sense, it's called. It was a sad loss of a skilled pilot and and an increasingly rare aircraft. - and I couldn't hear anything of the aircraft's engines, so who knows if he lost power until the fan blades are dug out of the ground. Horrible.

[@NotFinancialAdvice]

Dude casually looks at his phone at the end.

[@siddharthsharma8940]

He's an NPC. Too busy to see how many likes he got on his ugly selfie

[@ThePurpleGandalf]

the only dumb questions are those witch are asked twice my friend. The typical smoke generator consists of a pressurized container holding a low viscosity oil such as Chevron/Texaco "Canopus 13" (formerly "Corvus Oil"). The oil is injected into the hot exhaust manifold causing it to vaporize into a huge amount of dense white smoke.

[@Gypples]

He flew into the lead aircraft's wake and had a compressor stall, which led to a wing stall. What a mess, poor guy

[@Uollie]

Do you know exactly how the wake may cause a compressor stall? Too much air at once?

[@SteamRebornWatch]

i was there !!

[@khanulukhawere7966]

RIP Gianfranco Mozzoni

[@oldbloke01]

I agree Gary', Something was amiss, formation and speed lost. Control looked difficult.

[@winsor68]

He screwed up and stalled.

[@gotham61]

I went to school with Gianfranco. Very sad.

[@duanstrydom1771]

Looks like he tried to fly inside loop to catch up to the lead and then had to pull back hard at the end to come out of the dive. I think that this caused a high angle of attack and most possibly resulted in a loss of lift and thus the wing over.

[@poolhallshark]

I agree with the angle of attack, but I think what made it go so terribly wrong was that the he hit the vortex of the other aircraft. He seemed to get a really awkward lift there right as he crossed the smoke. Almost looked like a stone skimming the water. He seemed to lose quite a bit of airspeed too, probably stalling at least the right wing. R.I.P. Gianfranco.

[@millimetreperfect]

Surely the cause was that the pilot simply G out , lost consciousness the plane was without a pilot in control for the last few seconds

[@theprinceofliberia6793]

Does that mean he pulled up and increased load factor and that kind of was accelerated stall?

[@theprinceofliberia6793]

@@millimetreperfect it did seem like he did pull up at the end of the loop

[@iflyc77]

@@millimetreperfect Surely not. That wing rock is due to the stall. I will agree that he wasn't in control though. it does look like he made a slight attempt at a recovery right towards the end though

[@mouser485]

Who is the guy that says “and rolling right “ @ 3:15 just as the plane begins its roll ?. Was that the pilot ? If so, it sounds like he says “oh” as the planes flight path changes. He then says “smoke off” just before the plane hits the ground.

[@stevetheduck1425]

If we assume the flight leader (front pilot) was speaking, then the calls make sense with what was observed.

[@wayneschenk5512]

Something was off about 20 seconds from the crash.

[@yoopernow]

Extra-hard pull at the bottom of the loop. G-LOC?

[@pascalchauvet7625]

I think he pulled so hard that he stalled first, then blacked out. Before th crash the aircraft looks aerodynamically stable

[@rnzoli]

No, it's a classic accelerated stall, right wing goes down, aircraft rolls inverted. I had bad feelings then he tried to catch up on the leader, cut across the top of their last dive, ending up doing the pullout lower and at higher G loading.

[@pascalchauvet7625]

@@rnzoli Oh I didn't see him go inverted. His accelerated stall looks quite brutal, was he a non-professional?

[@rnzoli]

@@pascalchauvet7625 I had to look twice to realize that. Here is the final report, courtesy of Rodger Stone: www.caa.co.za/Accidents%20and%20Incidents%20Reports/9054.pdf You can see the still pictures explaning the accident sequence. The pilot was aerobatic rated, so no issues from training perspective, but safety briefings on the day of flight were omitted. Probably hitting the wake wortex of the lead aircraft contributed to the accident as well.

[@pascalchauvet7625]

@@rnzoli Thank you so much for your help

[@theprinceofliberia6793]

@@rnzoli exactly what I thought

[@garyfischer4357]

One of the problems with these privately owned jets is that the owners don't fly enough to stay current. Whether they don't have the time or can't afford the fuel and maintenance...not saying this happened in this case, but, it does happen a lot.

[@MillerVanDotTV]

He flew a lot.

[@eastendmafia1773]

He was a very well rounded aviator with more hours under his belt then most will ever acquire. A private owned jet fatal occurrences are very few and far between. I’d love to hear some statistics on that matter. Cheers

[@djjmc]

Pilot error. Report came out last week.

[@billmorris2613]

Good afternoon to all from SE Louisiana 25 Apr 22.

[@realityhitsmehardbro]

Smoke off? Ya kidding?

[@alecaleblues]

The first gislane maxwell boyfriend died like that .

[@jongallant6054]

That's why I have a boat and a fishing pole.

[@ihaveone6086]

And how many boaters die each year....?

[@JoshX9]

I see a lot of comments trying to figure out what happened If you listen you can hear the pilot on coms stating his maneuver's before executing them, He says "Rolling right" at which point he "Rolls right" and it seems he rolls a bit to far right which causes him to lose the angle he was on to complete the loop which he tries to correct by rolling left right before hitting the ground but it was already to late, Impact.

[@g6rcteam81]

What is up with all the l39 crashes .

[@flatiron53]

Individuals with far more money than skill.

[@iwontreplybacklol7481]

Well, the music does say it is the highway to the danger zone.

[@mace41canuck]

That was like hiking a hour to look at dog crap.

[@JesameSandalamo]

😭

[@stevejacobs2813]

May his Legend live forever. May GOD be with his family during this sad time.

[@Jkur2009]

He looked like he was behind the curve on the backside of that loop. Looked like he lost formation and was trying to maintain a pseudo formation but that put him too far out on that loop.

[@jamescraig4479]

I agree, he pulled too many g's on the curve and blacked out...

[@AdrianGutierrez-qj5jy]

Holy fuck what a complete stall :(

[@tauselesimonmuse7137]

Omg.

[@viperdriver82]

Looks like he may have caught leads wake

[@danielbray5877]

Good commentary listing the extensive experience and time this pilot had spent flying and then Oh ?? Ummm. A pre-death eulogy of sorts. Poor bugger.

[@TheSilmarallion]

Looks like he initiated his barrel roll earlier than he realized it seems he did not raise the nose enough so when he went inverted the nose dropped very far below the horizon resulting in inverted dive with no room to recover. Could be so many factors, easy for us sitting in chair to comment only person that really knew what happened was that pilot. R.I.P you are know in the eternal Hanger in the Sky.

[@robertdenro9348]

Why fly a plane for no reason?? Its not a toy... I do not understand some people.

[@TheSilmarallion]

@@robertdenro9348 if you have tasted flight then there is no reason needed. Still safer than a car...

[@siddharthsharma8940]

@@robertdenro9348 because hobbies exist. You may be too poor to enjoy the hobby, but there are others who are fortunate enough to fly planes for fun

[@in.meraki]

​​​@@siddharthsharma8940 Flying is more like a skill and passion than a hobby. Painting is a hobby. And your vocab might be "too poor", but you can always google and reply, rather than insulting others due to lack of knowledge. 😊

[@AbnEngrDan]

Accelerated Stall. You can visibly see the aircraft lose lift and roll. Vortices created by the lead aircraft sink. He came out of that loop below the lead aircraft. This is why smaller aircraft stay high when behind larger aircraft.

[@pensacola07]

Looks like G-loc

[@marthakrumboltz2710]

Every time these accidents happen, not only does the aircraft pool grow smaller, but those people screaming for safety grow larger. After so many scenarios and aftermath investigations these should not happen. Pulling out of a loop should be an easy maneuver but this accident could easily have cost the lives of paying spectators. Had he pulled up sooner he may have crashed into the tent. Ouch

[@adambarnett5217]

TrueAnon brought me here.

[@MonthlyFailsOutreaching]

Hey Steve, do you have an email address we can use to contact you regarding this video? I'd love to discuss a license to use this if possible! Cheers, Felix

[@mlassz009]

Danger Zone still blaring in the background

[@EmpowerUOnline]

"Flying to the music of "top Gun" ...No shit?

[@stardemonspacecat]

Damn !!! ...He flew straight into the "Danger Zone" :/:/:/

[@bertg.6056]

Possible onset of g-LOC. Tragic.

[@Valentinegal]

Could tell he was just off his mark a few times then sadly hits..

[@GaryLaaks1]

Something went wrong at 3:13. Sudden increase in G's. Seriously doubt it is pilot error. Condolences to his family and friends. Know how it feels to lose someone this way.

[@scotabot7826]

Definitely pilot error, as the report stated it.

[@andrewhoag1255]

Pilot error stalled

[@pakrej]

Looks like he lost part od thrust but still was trying to catch the leader in the loop. He pulled too hard during descend and stalled on right wing...

[@diegogonzales2451]

Perdio el control a causa de la estela del otro avion..

[@Umakemelaff]

These two pilots have thousands of hours doing this…to the them from Top Gun…..boom. It’s not the hours. It’s the one second.

[@vp15x]

ooppssii!!

[@OregonCrow]

Rich guy buys a jet a thinks he's in Top Gun. The hell were you people expecting to happen?

[@loxahacefigaronald724]

I'm guessing it caught him by surprise, like airframe failure maybe? Didn't even have time to eject!! The "Albatross" sure isn't a F-16 RIP

[@kathywilliams5152]

Kind of click bait - all I saw was sky then tent and a guy’s back and finally a one second view of some flames. RIP to the pilot though - how sad.

[@leifvejby8023]

Look again, there is a stall, flick and dive too.

[@sniktun1]

yeh turbulane from the other jet looks like it caused it to loose lift and ended up stalling. thats why the wings wabbled left and right before the plane inverted into the ground. just asking too much from the plane for the conditions

[@Delta27Zakk]

Tragic but he over G’d the aircraft you can tell he over stressed himself it would’ve been only a couple milliseconds.😕

[@robertdenro9348]

Why fly a plane for no reason?? Its not a toy... I do not understand some people.

[@Delta27Zakk]

@@robertdenro9348 it was a display it was for a reason he just misjudged the loop and overstressed himself and the aircraft and crashed.

[@MisterIvyMike]

@@robertdenro9348 Why driving a car for fun, or a motorbike? Why go climbing, running, swimming or horse riding? Why going to your favorite sport club to watch them? Why go drinking? Ask yourself. I do not understand Robert Denro!

[@artyfuffkin7805]

The L39 has a bad safety record I think it should be banned from the US

[@ralphe5842]

There ends the very very rich man from South Africa

[@dmgsoultogetherness6667]

ah......"dangerzone"..

Here come all the armchair experts

[@GeFlous]

Well maybe he was a legend for those handful of people?

[@maseratifittipaldi]

Seems to me there was a loss of power some time before the accident...was lagging the lead plane increasingly.

[@andrewhoag1255]

No

[@deerhunter7482]

Talk to me Goose !

[@jetvette66]

Of course....endless yakking announcer and "Danger Zone"!!!!!!!

[@neverrime]

Legend? Nobody knows about him except a handful of people. And yes, god is sitting in their living room consoling them...

[@stormhansen1499]

Fitting music - albeit very cliché .... He took The Highway To The Danger Zone....

[@careliacarelita2294]

Y cortan en la mejor parte!..."" 😷👎

[@humanerror7152]

highway to the danger zone

[@MrStratbat]

Playing music at an airshow is about stupid as it gets....

[@imapaine-diaz4451]

Speed is your friend, altitude is your savior. this guy had neither on his side, and the law of gravity ate him!

[@megadavis5377]

There's a ton of rich boys out there with pilots licenses and rich-boy toys who want so badly to be Top Gunners. This happens far too often. Shame.

[@nickdavis965]

yep, I remember the last time there was an airshow in my town (amigo airsho, very well respected show and pilots loved flying here in El Paso before the airshow flopped) well anyway I remember that airshow my brother and I met Joe Shetterly, when my brother told him he wanted to be a doctor and a pilot (oh the dreams we had as children) Joe jokingly told my brother that doctors that were pilots always crashed cuz they were too darn arrogant and then got serious and said, "when you become a pilot always realize its not a toy and to fly the way we do is incredibly difficult and one second can mean life or death" Note that I was 12 and he was 14 at the time so what he said wasn't like something you'd tell a little kid but we were old enough to understand what he meant. And it sucks to see videos like this where it manifests.

[@onshisan]

@@nickdavis965 That pilot's attitude is certainly appropriate. I attended many airshows as a kid, and this feels very familiar. It also makes me think about how many injuries and deaths could be avoided if driving was treated with the same deadly seriousness. Oh, well...

[@SopwithTheCamel]

Gloc.

[@backpackerthrulife8497]

No plane, except a Pitts etc, should be doing loops over airfields especially at airshows. How many times, since way back, have pilots done this over airfields and died?

[@JMMC1005]

Or it could have been a high speed stall, or a mechanical failure, or... speculation is worthless, if we don't have facts.

[@e30kitty]

could not.... no hss at these lowspeeds...

[@Footy_Fan]

This was either a mechanical failure, or a heart attack (or something similar that resulted in unconsciousness). The pilot finished the loop, and was fine until the the nose abruptly pitched down. This is so sad. God bless his family, partner, and friends. R.I.P. Sir!

[@scotabot7826]

Wrong and Wrong again!!

[@DarthJermz]

He Zigged instead of Zagged.

[@harryheart6018]

That's what happens to you if you first date and then break up with Ghislaine Maxwell.

[@stephanevokim9094]

OOps...The danger zone.america. Fuck yeah!

[@MrVilok]

This is a stal!

[@brentnicol6391]

Stop playing that soundtrack at airshows. It is sickening enough just listening to that music over and over at airshows.

[@CTFlyer7]

Something broke on that airplane :(