F-104 Performer, Lost in Hawker Hunter

This private T-MK 7 Hunter went down in Pittston Township shortly after taking off from the airport at about 9AM, said FAA spokesman Jim Peters. No one on the ground was hurt.

Delashaw (shown, right, in his Starfighter) was pulled from the wreck by construction workers in the area, who rushed to give aid; Tom was dead at the scene, according to local reports. The ejection seat and a partially-open 'chute were reported nearby.

The plane had been undergoing a lot of maintenance, for several months, according to a local report; the maintenance crew was identified as Canadian. The flight, a Bonnie Adams/Lane Filler report in the Wilkes-Barre (PA)  Times Leader said, had been delayed several times.

Witnesses told the reporters that they had seen on Monday what looked like at least one aborted takeoff. Tuesday, the plane took off, but it just failed to gain altitude. It crashed about two miles off the end of the Wilkes-Barre airport, after missing a tank farm, homes, and power lines.

Delashaw was a Viet Nam combat pilot, and was well-known as part of "The World's Fastest Airshow Team," astounding -- and deafening -- crowds in his F-104 Starfighter. He had last performed in Michigan, over the July 4 weekend.

The 1957 aircraft was, according to one enthusiasts' registry in a 2001 entry, "regularly flown." The FAA registration site says it was exported to Canada, date effective July 11, 2003...

**   Report created 7/23/2003   Record 4  **
IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 614XL        Make/Model: HAWK      Description: HUNTER
  Date: 07/22/2003     Time: 1259
  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
  City: DUPONT   State: PA   Country: US
DESCRIPTION
  ACFT DEPARTED RUNWAY 22 AND CRASHED 1/4 MILE OFF THE DEPARTURE END OF THE
  RUNWAY UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, ONE PERSON ON BOARD WAS FATALLY
  INJURED, ACFT WAS DESTROYED, WILKES-BARRE AIRPORT,  DUPONT, PA
INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   1
                 # Crew:  1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
WEATHER: VFR 100 BKN 10 TEMP 20C DEWPOINT 18
OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Take-off      Operation: General Aviation
  Departed: WILKES-BARRE, PA            Dep Date: 07/22/2003   Dep. Time: 1258
  Destination: BURLINGTON, VT           Flt Plan: VFR          Wx Briefing: U
  Last Radio Cont: CGLUM PA31 NOTIFD EMGENCY
  Last Clearance: CLRD FOR TAKEOFF
  FAA FSDO: ALLENTOWN, PA  (EA05)                 Entry date: 07/23/2003

FMI: www.starfighters.net