Pesawat Jatuh dan Terbakar, Wanita Akrobatik dan Pilot Tewas
Stuntwoman and Pilot Die in Air Show Fireball
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
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PARA saksi mata mengatakan, pesawat yang membawa seorang akrobatik wanita dan pilot nya terbang ´terlalu rendah dan terlalu lambat´ sebelum jatuh terbakar di pameran dirgantara, Sabtu sore (22/6).
Jane Wicker, ibu dari dua anak laki-laki, adalah akrobatik di pesawat bersayap ganda di Vectren Air Show di dekat Dayton, Ohio, ketika terhempas. Pilot, Charlie Schwenker, juga tewas dalam kecelakaan itu setelah membawa pesawat naas yang membuat penonton diliputi kengerian.
´Apakah ia melayang lebih rendah, saya tidak tahu apa yang terjadi," kata Ian Hoyt, seorang fotografer penerbangan dan pilot berlisensi dari Findlay yang berada di airshow dengan pacarnya.
Hoyt mengatakan ia mengambil foto saat pesawat melintas dan baru saja mengangkat kamera untuk mengambil gambar lain.
"Kemudian saya menyadari mereka terbang terlalu rendah dan terlalu lambat. Dan sebelum aku tahu itu, mereka telah terhempas di tanah," katanya.
Hoyt mengatakan dia tidak tahu persis apa yang terjadi, tetapi ternyata bahwa pesawat terhenti dan tidak memiliki kecepatan terbang yang cukup, katanya. Dia memperkirakan pilot sadar pesawatnya akan mengarah ke penonton dan dia memilih jatuh untuk menyelamatkan banyak nyawa penonton.
Penonton lain, Thanh Tran dari Fairfield, mengatakan dia bisa melihat ekspresi kekhawatiran di wajah sayap walker sebelum pesawat itu jatuh.
"Dia tampak sangat ketakutan," katanya. "Kalau pesawat jatuh di tanah. Setelah itu, itu mengerikan, man ... sangat mengerikan. "
Saksi-saksi lain melaporkan mendengar jeritan saat pesawat menukik ke tanah.
"Tiba-tiba saya mendengar teriakan dan melihat ke atas dan ada bola api,´ kata Stan Thayer dari Wilmington kepada Dayton Daily News .
Shawn Warwick juga menonton kecelakaan melalui teropong, seperti dilansir Mail Online.
"Saya melihat benar-benar terbalik dekat dengan tanah. Dia duduk di bawah pesawat," katanya. "Saya melihatnya hanya pergi tepat ke tanah dan meledak."
Terrence Slaybaugh, direktur penerbangan untuk Dayton, membenarkan kematian mereka sekitar pukul 2 siang dan kecelakaan terjadi sekitar pukul 12:45 waktu setempat.
Sebuah video yang diposting di program tivi WHIO-TV memperlihatkan saat pesawat terbang terbalik dan sang akrobatik duduk di atas sayap. Penyiar menceritakan ketika pesawat melaju di udara dan berguling-guling sementara Wecker nongkrong di sayapnya.
"Sekarang dia masih jauh. Perhatikan terus Jane. Awasi Charlie. Lihat ini! Jane Wicker, duduk di puncak dunia," kata penyiar, tepat sebelum pesawat membuat putaran cepat dan menukik, meledak dan terbakar di tengah jeritan penonton.
Peristiwa tragis batal ditayangkan di hari itu, tapi penyelenggara mengatakan acara akan dilanjutkan Minggu dan mengikuti jadwal sebelumnya dan beroperasi normal. The National Transportation Safety Board mengatakan sedang menyelidiki kecelakaan itu.
Dalam sebuah wawancara awal pekan ini dengan WDTN , Wicker menyatakan tidak ada kekhawatiran tentang penerbangan hari ini.
"Saya tidak pernah gugup atau takut karena saya tahu jika saya melakukan segala sesuatu seperti biasanya saya lakukan, semuanya akan baik-baik saja," kata Wicker.
Wicker itu dikenal sebagai akrobatik udara setelah memperlihatkan aksi nekatnya dengan berani melalui Flying Circus naik yang diterimanya sebagai hadiah ulang tahun.
Tragisnya, gambar di Facebook tampaknya menunjukkan bahwa dia baru saja bertunangan.
WITNESSES said a plane carrying a woman wing walker and her pilot was going ´too low and too slow´ before it crashed in ball of flames at air airshow Saturday afternoon.
Jane Wicker, a mother of two sons, was atop the biplane at the Vectren Air Show near Dayton, Ohio, when it plunged to the ground. The pilot, Charlie Schwenker, also perished in the crash after steering the plane away horrified onlookers.
´Had he drifted more, I don´t know what would have happened,´ said Ian Hoyt, an aviation photographer and licensed pilot from Findlay who was at the airshow with his girlfriend.
Hoyt said he was taking photos as the plane passed by and had just raised his camera to take another shot.
´Then I realized they were too low and too slow. And before I knew it, they hit the ground,´ he said.
Hoyt said he couldn´t tell exactly what happened, but it appeared that the plane stalled and didn´t have enough air speed, he said. He credited the pilot for steering clear of spectators and potentially saving lives.
Another spectator, Thanh Tran of Fairfield, said he could see a look of concern on the wing walker´s face just before the plane went down.
´She looked very scared,´ he said. ´Then the airplane crashed on the ground. After that, it was terrible, man ... very terrible.´
Other witnesses reported hearing screams as the plane dived to the ground.
´All of a sudden I heard screaming and looked up and there was a fire ball,´ Stan Thayer of Wilmington told the Dayton Daily News.
Shawn Warwick was also at the event and watching the crash through binoculars.
´I noticed it was upside down really close to the ground. She was sitting on the bottom of the plane,´ he said. ´I saw it just go right into the ground and explode.´
Terrence Slaybaugh, the director of aviation for Dayton, confirmed their deaths around 2 p.m. The crash occurred at around 12:45 p.m.
A video posted on WHIO-TV shows the small plane turn upside-down as the performer sits on top of the wing. The announcer narrates as the plane glides through the sky and rolls over while Wicker perches.
´Now she´s still on that far side. Keep an eye on Jane. Keep an eye on Charlie. Watch this! Jane Wicker, sitting on top of the world,´ the announcer said, right before the plane makes a quick turn and nosedive, erupting into flames as spectators screamed.
The show was canceled for the rest of the day, but organizers said events would resume Sunday and follow the previous schedule and normal operations. The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating the crash.
In an interview earlier this week with WDTN, Wicker expressed no apprehension about today´s flight.
´I´m never nervous or scared because I know if I do everything as I usually do, everything´s going to be just fine,´ Wicker said.
Wicker was well-known as a wing walker after being introduced to the daredevil activity through a Flying Circus ride she received as a birthday present.
Tragically, a picture on Facebook seems to indicate that she had recently become engaged.
