Fire from debris of a mid-air aircraft collision on the EAA AirVenture grounds on July 29, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Sunday marks the end of a week-long tradition in Oshkosh.
EAA AirVenture 2023 is officially in the books.
Unfortunately a busy sky resulted in a couple tragic incidents at what could be the largest fly-in yet.
This year’s EAA AirVenture is expected to be the biggest one to date.
Last year’s AirVenture was called the biggest success since the aviation gatherings began in 1953. The event had more than 650,000 guests.
EAA President Jack Pelton says he’s expecting when the final numbers are in that 2023 will set a new record.
“Attendance, I’m going to probably not go out on a limb and pick a number, but I’m feeling pretty comfortable that it was greater than last year,” said Pelton.
Being one of the busiest AirVentures, there were also quite a few challenges.
“I wanna take the time to express our condolences to all the affected parties in the accidents that we had, one on the field and one over the lake,” said Pelton.
A total of four people were killed and two others were injured during two different aircraft incidents during EAA’s AirVenture.
Their names have been released.
“Those are never easy to deal with, our communications team will continue to keep everyone posted with any additional facts as they unfold,” said Pelton.
A helicopter and a gyrocopter collided mid-air at the south end of the flightline at Wittman Regional Airport Saturday afternoon.
The two that died were identified as the pilot of the helicopter, 69-year-old Mark Peterson of Foley, Alabama and his passenger, 72-year-old Thomas Volz from Clermont County, Ohio.
The other two injured in the gyrocopter were rushed to the hospital and are in stable condition.
Their names have not been released.
“Both were down there in the ultralight helicopter area, and again, the NTSB is investigating, obviously somebody was in the wrong place at the wrong time, now we have to find out why they were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Dick Knapinski, EAA spokesperson.
Hours before that incident, A T-6 Texan plane crashed into Lake Winnebago, killing two others.
The victims are identified as 20-year-old Zach Colliemoreno, whose hometown was not immediately available, and 30-year-old Devyn Reiley from Guadalupe, Texas.
Reiley worked at the Texas Warbird Museum.
According to the museum, she grew up dreaming of being a pilot one day, just like her dad.
“What the traffic was from the tower, the airplane was here, we don’t know if they were departing or simply on a recreational flight right now, but why communications was lost at that point? They’re going to have to determine whether it was mechanical, some kind of maneuver or something else that was involved,” said Knapinski.
Knapinski says NTSB investigations usually put out a factual report a couple of days following a crash. Then in about three weeks, an initial report will be released. The final report that establishes probable cause takes about a year.
“Investigators want to be very thorough, they look at all the parts, they talk to all the people involved,” said Knapinski.
If you’d like to donate to the GoFundMe Devyn Reiley’s family set up, click here.
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