Second Time The Replica Has Gone Down In Two Years

A full-scale replica of the historic 1905 Wright Flyer III has gone down in Ohio while practicing for a re-enactment of the first flight. Pilot Mark Dusenberry was injured, and sent to the hospital after the accident. The aircraft was heavily damaged.

Dusenberry Flying Replica 2005

Parks Service spokesperson Julia Frasure told the Associated Press that the aircraft came down in Huffman Prairie on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton.

According to Amanda Wright Lane, the great-grandniece of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Dusenberry was planning to reenact the famous first flight on Monday to mark the 104th anniversary of the historic event. Dusenberry was also flying the replica when it crashed two years ago on the 102nd anniversary. The aircraft was damaged, but he was unhurt.

Witnesses told AP that Dusenberry was on his second practice flight of the day, and was about 10 feet off the ground when the aircraft suddenly pitched steeply nose down, then up at a steep angle. It finally came to the ground at a steep nose-down attitude.

Wright Flyer Replica

Like the original airplane, the replica is fragile, made mostly of fabric stretched over a wooden frame.

FMI: www.nps.gov/wrbr