It was a tough start for Sun 'n Fun...
Friday, April 5th, two aircraft collided over Lakeland-Linder
Regional Airport shortly after 1500 EST. Both aircraft were
reported to have been in Lakeland for this week's Fly-in and two
persons were transported to Lakeland Regional Hospital... one in
critical condition. Both aircraft carried only a single pilot and
no passengers.
Late Friday night, the pilot of the RV-6A, Jerry Morrison, 63,
of Austin TX, (who had been reported to be in critical condition),
died due to the injuries suffered in the crash.
Quick inspection of limited imagery available to ANN showed two
aircraft in close proximity to each other, impacted close to a
runway at the airport. One was Morrison's Van's Aircraft RV-6A. The
other was a 1949 Piper PA-16 Clipper, currently registered to
Stephen Pierce of Graham, TX.
This accident was actually the second of the day. It occurred
just a few hours after a previous accident in which an experimental
aircraft reportedly suffered a "hard landing." Local media is
claiming that Sun 'n Fun has now been involved (directly or
indirectly) in nearly thirty accidents, with a total of 15
fatalities since 1975. A quick look at our records indicate that
this estimate (at least the total number) may actually be
understated.
Some footage of the accident site shows what appears to be a
significant amount of smoke obscuring parts of the sky and local
reports note that a "burn" was conducted in a nearby field and may
have decreased local visibility. A televised eyewitness report
(allegedly from a pilot) also indicates that the accident occurred
as both aircraft were approaching to land on LAL's Rwy 27R.
Sun 'n Fun started Sunday and early arrivals, though not as
heavy as seen in previous years (according to an airport staffer),
pick up significantly in the days immediately preceding the
event.
Saturday wasn't much better--with THREE additional accidents
reported at this year's Fly-In, (and despite what several observers
seem to think is diminished traffic as compared to previous years).
While injuries, Saturday, were listed as minimal, several aircraft
were significantly damaged (including a mangled Navion that's now
missing most of it's hind quarters).
Last year, the Fly-In had a number of accidents, including one
in which a pilot was killed and his passenger injured as they were
directed to take-off from a limited, soft-field, runway environment
by Sun 'n Fun staffers, with a reported 11 knot downwind component
and allegedly after staffers had refused the aid of real-time WX
data from a portable digital weather station.
The Fly-In has been under fire, from a number of sources
(including ANN) for a number of questionable safety practices
(including well documented cases of SnF management's unwillingness
to address illegal or unsafe practices on the Fly-In site) for well
over a decade. [ANN thanks the Lakeland Ledger and WFLA for their
assistance with this story].
ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.17.24): Very High Frequency
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