Pilot Fatally Injured In The Accident In Adelaide

A replica of a Supermarine Spitfire airplane has gone down in a suburb of Adelaide, Australia, resulting in the fatal injury of the pilot.

According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the plane had been cleared for final approach to the southerly runway at Parafield airport. About a mile out, "the aircraft was seen to descend very quickly towards the ground," said ATSB investigator-in-charge Richard Davies.

The pilot of the aircraft, identified as 73-year-old Roger Stokes, was fatally injured when the plane impacted the ground in the parking lot of a factory near the airport. The Australian newspaper reports that the airplane had been performing at an airshow being held at Parafield Airport. The plane narrowly avoided coming down at a soccer field where a match was underway just about 200 yards from the impact site.

One witness, a 12-year-old child watching the soccer game, said the plane "did a barrel roll" and then "a wing gave way and it went straight down."

Police would not say whether any action on the part of the pilot, who built the Spitfire replica seven years ago, helped him avoid the soccer field as he went down.

The remainder of the air show was cancelled after the accident occurred.

FMI: www.atsb.gov.au