Mon, Sep 11, 2006
Swedish Record-Holder Was In Aero GP Competition
Swedish aerobatics champion, Gabor Varga, was killed off the
coast of Malta, when his airplane, a Yak-55, collided with an
Extra 200 piloted by Irishman Eddie Goggins.
The aircraft were participating in the Aero GP Grand Prix, a
flying competition which is a combination air race, simulated
dogfight, target bombing, and generalized aerobatics meet. There
were eight teams entered from around the world.
Witnesses report that both aircraft were in a climbing turn away
from the harbor of the capital city of Valletta when Varga
evidently lost altitude for unknown reasons.
Goggins' plane appears to have clipped the tail of the Yak and
the entire empennage separated from the fuselage. Varga's plane
plunged almost instantly into the ocean in full view
of the spectators. Divers recovered his body within two
minutes, according to the Times of Malta.
Goggins was able to nurse his damaged plane into a climb for a
few seconds, enough to bail out before it, too, hit the water. He
was rescued almost immediately by Maltese patrol boats. He appeared
to be uninjured.
Gabor Varga, 45, was known as the "Wild One" and is in the
Guinness Book of World Records for performing the greatest number
of loops in an hour, a total of 256.
The Aero GP Grand Prix was inaugurated last year in Slovenia.
The Maltese meet was cancelled immediately after the accident and
the harbor has been closed to sea traffic for the
investigation.
Two more Aero GP Grand Prix are scheduled to be held this
year.
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