A pilot is dead after a stunt plane crashed during practice flights ahead of the New York Air Show in the Hudson Valley, state police said.
The propeller-driven aircraft was flying near the Stewart International Airport in New Windsor when it crashed down just after 2 p.m. Friday for reasons not immediately known, Trooper Steven Nevel said.
The pilot was the only person inside the plane.
A witness at the scene shared a photo of the soaring aircraft moments before it fell from the sky. Its tail appears blown off with heavy white smoke trailing behind.
FAA records list the Giles G202 experimental aircraft as belonging to Andrew Wright of Austin, Texas, though the identity of the pilot killed has not been released.
Wright had given a local reporter a preview flight in the single-engine plane earlier in the day and was scheduled to perform at the show.
A website for Wright lists him as flying his G202 competitively in air shows since 2001. He is scheduled to fly his stunt plane at the Thunder Over The Boardwalk Air Show in Atlantic City early next month while attempting to perform the most inverted flat spins for a new Guinness World Record.
A dizzying online video, which appears to have been uploaded by Wright five months ago, claims to show him performing an 83 turn inverted flat spin.
Benjamin Granucci, who tweeted out the photo of Wright’s striped plane in a clear blue sky, describing hearing a “thud” during the crash but said there wasn’t any smoke or flames.
“What I saw was the aircraft come in for a dive. As it pulled up, it suddenly crossed the crowd line and spun towards the ground,” Granucci, who lists himself as an editor for NYC Aviation, tweeted.
“I’m absolutely sick to my stomach right now. Hoping that the pilot is ok, though that would take a miracle…” Granucci tweeted.
The air show is still planned for Saturday and Sunday while practice has been canceled for the remainder of Friday.
The NTSB is said to be investigating along with state police.
Requests for comment from the air show were not immediately returned.
With News Wire Services
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