Tragedy Strikes Valient Air Command

A Titusville man was killed and a teenager was critically injured Saturday morning around 10:00 a.m. when the landing gear of the DC-3 they were working on gave way. The two were working on the wingless fuselage of the vintage aircraft when the collapse occurred.

"Why it collapsed or how it collapsed is still under investigation," said Office Warren Van Vuren, a spokesman for the Titusville Police Department to Florida Today. Rescue workers used a forklift to raise the DC-3 and free the victims.

The accident critically injured a 15-year-old volunteer who was air lifted to the Holmes Regional Medical Center in nearby Melbourne, Florida. The teenager was one of the few young people volunteering at the museum. Volunteers had celebrated his 15th birthday last weekend with a cake in one of the hangars.

"He is one of the finest young men that we have working there," said Ken Terry, the museum operations officer. "He is very interested in American history, and an extremely smart young man."

Michael McDonough, 76, died at the location. He was a retired Navy flight crew chief, and a member of the Valiant Air Command's Warbird Museum at Space Center Executive Airport. He had been a volunteer at the museum for more than ten years.

The all-volunteer organization works to repair and maintain several classic warbirds. One of the museum's flagship aircraft is a C-47 named "Tico Belle." Media reports indicated that McDonough may have been removing parts from the DC-3 for use on the C-47, which is undergoing repairs from a landing accident in 2001.

"He was an absolute stalwart of the VAC and our heritage and mission," said Terry to Florida Today. "He was a staunch patriot."

McDonough's son, Michael is also a member of the Valiant Air Command. He said his father died in a "freak accident" and that his father was devoted to restoring the Tico Belle, which ferried troops on D-Day.

"If he could have chosen the way he died, between a heart attack or (while working on) a C-47 plane, he would have chosen the C-47,'' Michael McDonough said to the AP. "How often can you say, 'He died doing something he loved?'"

FMI: www.vacwarbirds.org