Air Race Pilot Still Hospitalized One Month Later

It's a slow process -- recovering from a tragic air racing accident -- for pilot Steve Mountain.

Mountain, who's in his mid-40s, was seriously injured on May 29th when his Debus Casst Snoshoo went down at the International Formula One Race in Oklahoma City, OK.

"His legs were broken very badly... and he's had some serious facial injuries," said Jim Debus, who last saw him on Monday, according to the Lincoln, NE, Journal-Star.

"The engine quit. We knew that the first day," said FAA spokesman John Clabes.

The NTSB, in its preliminary accident report, stated:

A witness, who was located approximately mid-field on the ramp reported observing the airplane completing its third lap of an International Formula One Air Race when it aborted the race and climbed southbound toward the center of the airport. The airplane then turned left and began to descend on a northerly heading approaching runway 35L (6,013-foot long and 100-foot wide concrete runway). At an altitude of approximately 200 feet above ground level (agl), the airplane turned to the east, side stepping to runway 35R (3,502-foot-long and 75-foot wide asphalt/concrete runway). Approximately 50 feet agl, the airplane pitched upward "slightly" and started to spin to the left. Subsequently, the airplane impacted the edge of runway 35R in "a vertical attitude."

Examination of the airplane by an Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, who responded to the accident site, revealed that the airplane came to rest inverted, approximately 70 feet from the initial point of impact. The fuselage structure forward of the aft part section of the cockpit was destroyed. The left wing was separated from the fuselage and was fragmented. The right wing was separated from the fuselage and was split in half. The outboard tip of the right horizontal stabilizer and elevator was bent upwards approximately 45 degrees. The left horizontal stabilizer, elevator, vertical stabilizer, and rudder sustained minor cosmetic damage. The engine was separated from its mounts. Both composite propeller blades were destroyed.

The question, of course, is why the engine failed in the first place.

"It could be anything," Clabes said.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20050615X00771&key=1