There have been many plane crashes over the years involving a celebrity pilot at the wheel. Although some plane crashes result in a fatality, it seems that luck intervenes when a celebrity pilot is on board.
According to ABC News, NASCAR team owner Jack Roush was involved in a plane crash on Tuesday and is in stable condition. The plane was part of the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture Show, which is held annually in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Roush is in stable condition with non-life threatening injuries after his plane crashed at Wittman Airfield around 6 p.m.. He had one passenger, Brenda Strickland, who was taken to the hospital for similar injuries. Currently, there is no information available as to the reason for the airplane crash, and the investigation continues.
The Roush accident is similar to a situation that occurred back in 2000 with celebrity pilot Patrick Swayze. According to Air Safe, on June 1, 2000, Swayze had to make an emergency landing in a housing development near Prescott, Arizona. At about 13,000, feet he noticed the airplane was having a problem with pressurization and the plane malfunctioned. Swayze managed to escape the crash with only minor injuries; no one else was injured during the emergency landing.
Right before the airplane hit the ground, the right wing of the plane struck a streetlight. The streetlight impact shredded a four-foot section from the right wing, which is very dangerous. It was concluded that the effects of smoking cigarettes and release of carbon monoxide from engine by-products contributed to the physical impairment of Swayze. The combination of that and the loss of pressurization is what caused the airplane to malfunction. The loss of pressurization was a result of a fractured clamp on the airplane, which is a fairly serious problem. Swayze was lucky because he could have been killed if the airplane hit a rock or a hard surface, which would have caused an explosion. It was also possible that, if the plane had been further up in altitude, the landing would have been almost impossible to do successfully.
In both of these instances where a celebrity pilot was involved, it seems like luck was on their side. Both men have had years of experience flying an airplane, and were able to successfully avoid injury to innocent people on the ground, as well as prevent further injury to themselves. Both Roush and Swayze had close-calls in what could have ended their life and career, or severely paralyzed them.
In both instances, it just goes to show that even a famous celebrity could have an accident, and they are not perfect. Both men were lucky to walk away from their plane crash with minor injuries and without having to deal with accidentally causing the death of someone else. An airplane crash is something that usually does not occur as often as it seems, but, when they do happen, it can be a deadly and horrific scene. In both of these cases, however, it seems that a disaster was avoided, thanks to the effort of the celebrity pilot involved.
John Wetenhall, “Jack Roush’s Plane Crashes in OshKosh, Wisconsin” ABC News
Air Safe Staff, “Plane Crash Involving Actor Patrick Swayze”, Air Safe
