"Trojan Phlyers" Grounded By Hicks Crash

By ANN Correspondent Rob Milford

An out-of-control Piper Apache went down at Hicks Field, Friday... with two historic casualties... though all the HUMANS survived. You'll have the official FAA details of the crash of the Piper Apache at Hicks Airport in Fort Worth on Friday afternoon, shortly, but the aircraft-realted cost of the accident will be huge.

The Trojan Phlyers T-28 demonstration team lost two of their three aircraft over the course of a few seconds, when an engine-out Apache took them out on the way to a pretty hefty impact (which the occupants, surprisingly, survived). One Trojan lost the vertical stabilizer, the other lost the entire tail, from just aft of the wing.

“Initial damage estimates show one aircraft with moderate damage, and the other with severe damage” says pilot Chip Lamb, “and there’s some question if that aircraft might be a total loss.”

ANN talked with Lamb as he was making his way home from the field. He was relieved that no one had been killed in the crash, but realizing that both aircraft will need a huge amount of work, and money, to put them in the air again.

“There’s some question if the aircraft can be fixed, how soon that could happen, and, most importantly, who will pay for all this. There’s the pilot of the Apache, the owner of the aircraft, and our insurance company, and this comes down to one question: Who’s going to pay?”

The Trojan Phlyers have been on the airshow circuit for six years, and boss Neil Anderson was sitting in his 2nd floor office when the Apache missed him by only a few feet.

Lamb says “The team had commitments for five shows, and serious interest from about a dozen others. I think it’s a question now about salvaging the second half of the season.” He added:

“It’s sad to say, but we were innocent bystanders in all of this. Now we most likely have to start looking for another aircraft.”

If you can help the team…maybe knowing a good T-28B that’s available, or for loan, contact the team at www.trojanphlyers.com