Forum: Civil and General Aviation

Forum Veteran Joined: Dec 15, 2006 - 12:28 AM Posts: 760

Shows the importance of properly using, knowing and maintaining your safety gear.

A simple repelling harness, a carabiner and a hardware store nylon rope could have cost less than $20.00 USD, if the guy was too cheap to get a professional secondary safety harness.

I don't know if the parachute would have saved him, but at least it would have given him a chance.

Warning: This video is somewhat disturbing. (It's not gory.)

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From the looks of the video, he didn't want to just hang by the axle as he did in the end. Something in his harness attachment failed and he couldn't hold on. At the altitude it appears this happened, a parachute likely would not have helped and might have been a hinderance to the plane, more on the hinderance later

I saw Lee Oman do some seriously cool wing walking on Jimmy Franklin's Waco Mystery Ship - including the axle hang! Lee never wore a parachute and only had a safety cable attached for one "position" if you will - that axle hang. It saved his life once when he couldn't hold on, but it caused other problems as stunts (even well planned and executed by professionals) can when they go wrong. Lee was left hanging IIRC and couldn't get back on the airplane. He wound up being pulled into the bed of a pickup and the line cut with the airplane flying just above the truck. The problem was that the airplane was starting to run low on fuel and was going to come back to earth soon - one way or another. If they hadn't rescued Lee with the pickup truck, he would have died anyway when the plane landed.

Lee never wore a parachute and wingwalkers typically don't for one simple reason. If the 'chute opens accidentally, it could be disasterous, especially at high speed or if the chute becomes snagged on part of the airframe or entangled in the flight control surfaces.

I think we should let this tragic event be a lesson to all of us to leave this to the professionals.

Thanks for posting this, ATFS Crash.

Forum Veteran Joined: Dec 15, 2006 - 12:28 AM Posts: 760

This guy had the unique technique of takeing off while hanging on the gear, I never seen anyone do that before. It looked like he had metal skid pads on his knees and belly. I agree he was too low for the chute to likely work, but it might have given him a shot. I thought he ought to have a secondary harness and wire because it look like it might get abrasion damage from runway and it looked like it might be one of his first flights doing this.

When I was a Kid I used to have a book on “Locklear the man who walked on wings”.

One time he hit a steeple. You have likely seen him. I think he is the guy that flew a plane into a barn, transferred plane to car, ect…He finally died when he was flying at night for a film (I think without instruments) and he was apparently blinded by the carbon arc lamps to light up the plane for the movie.

Gotcha on the abrasion damage and secondary harness.

I've seen those old movies, but didn't know who that was - thanks for the info.

I really feel sorry for the pilot and the cameramen. It would be terrible to lose a friend to something like this. Not trying to pile on the pilot, but I wonder if the FAA or local government filed any charges in the case.

Sad event all around.

Can you say "Dumbass Attack"?

Forum: Civil and General Aviation

Disturbing wing walking (landing gear) stunt [Video]