Helicopter v Gyro MidAir... and a T-6 Down in Lake Winnebago

ANN RealTime Update, 07.30.23, 1230CT: The EAA has released the names of those lost in Saturday's accidents... In the T-6 accident, Devyn Reiley, 30, of Guadalupe TX; and Zach Colliemoreno, 20, (hometown not ID'ed) were confirmed as fatalities in that tragedy. The mid-air rotorcraft collision took the lives of Mark Peterson, 69, of Foley AL; and Thomas Voltz, 72, of Amelia, OH. Again, ANN sends its prayers and condolences to all affected. 

Original Report: The wind-up weekend of AirVenture 2023 has taken a bad turn. ANN is researching details of what has been reported to be a T-6 that went down in Lake Winnebago, with apparent fatalities, as well as a MidAir collision that involved a Rotorway Exec Helicopter and an ELA Aviacion ELA-10 Eclipse Gyroplane. 

Just after 0900 local time, reports came in of an accident at Lake Winnebago. A North American T-6 had apparently descended rapidly to the water and went down in an area that was about 20 feet deep. Attempts were made to extricate the two passengers. The North American AT-6D Texan was registered to Texas Warbirds LLC, as N49961. The aircraft went down just minutes after departure from Wittman Field with two on board... and reports indicate that both perished. 

Later in the day, EAA's Dick Knapinski reported that, “At 12:24 p.m. Saturday, July 29, there was a mid-air accident involving two aircraft at the south end of the EAA AirVenture flightline at Wittman Regional Airport. EAA, Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department, and Oshkosh Fire Department personnel responded immediately to the scene. Aircraft operations at Wittman were halted while the accident was initially investigated. The afternoon air show is now underway. More details are still being gathered at this time. Further updates will be available as they are confirmed.”

ANN has learned from an online report from the owner (listed as 'druidjaidan' on MooneySpace) of a Mooney (Mooney M20F N9391M) near the South end of the aircraft parking area, that the two rotorcraft came down such a way that one hit his Mooney and demolished it. He expressed relief that his family was not in the area or near the aircraft when that occurred. The Exec hit the Mooney and at least one person in that aircraft was reported to have survived the impact, but the impact of the nearby ELA Eclipse did not appear to hold the same potential. "My plane for the past 6 years was destroyed today. Two ultralights collided on approach and one of the planes came down on top of my plane. We were on our way back from the seaplane base, had we decided to take the South 40 bus instead of main gate we, and my children, likely would have been at the tent when it happened," the owner of N9391M reported. 

He also added that, "The news on the pilots is not good. The one that didn't land on my money (sic) was not survivable. The one that did, I met one of the people first on scene who pulled them from the plane. They were alive at the time."

ANN will update this report with applicable info when appropriate... we offer our prayers to all involved. 

FMI: www.airventure.org