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Top Aviation News
Fun 'n Sun Plane Goes Out Of Control
-Article posted Aprill 9th, 2006
LAKELAND, FL - What could have been a disaster wound up as only a major nuisance Saturday at Sun 'n Fun when a display plane lurched from its moorings, rolled across a pedestrian walkway and narrowly missed a parked car containing children, Lakeland police said.
The 2005 Dova Skylark, valued at $75,000, did clip the car, causing minor damage, as well as a pickup, which suffered considerable damage. The plane came to rest when it hit a fence - with a bent wing draped over the pickup.
The plane, which was heavily damaged, fared worst of all in the mishap.
The plane was tethered in a commercial area near Sun 'n Fun Drive, which is used as a major pedestrian walkway. LPD spokesman Jack Gillen said some Fly-In attendees had been inside the cockpit earlier in the day and apparently fiddled with some switches.
The plane was to be moved for a photo shoot Sunday.
Just before 6 p.m., Eric Dellenbach, an airplane representative from Wisconsin, flipped the ignition switch as a test, and the engine "went full throttle," Gillen said.
It ripped the tethers and careened across Sun 'n Fun Drive, police said. Gillen said the plane was headed for the carload of children in a 2005 Buick LeSabre, but Dellenbach managed to steer it toward the pickup, a 2005 Toyota Tacoma.
Gillen said the family with the children in the Buick left immediately after the crash.
Article written by Rick Rousos from The Ledger
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