Witnesses Suggest The Aircraft Was Having Engine Trouble

In the days following a highly visible and tragic aircraft accident that took the lives of a well-known aerobatic pilot and a highly respected local reporter, a few reported details indicate that former airshow Pilot Franklin Augustus knew that his Pitts S-2B was in trouble. 

An NTSB senior air safety investigator from Denver arrived at the accident site Saturday to begin the on-scene phase of the investigation.

At about 3:06 p.m. CDT, Aug. 16, an Aerotek Pitts S-2B (registration N600DF) crashed shortly after taking off from New Orleans’ Lakefront Airport. Both occupants, the commercial-rated pilot and the passenger, were fatally injured.

Shortly after take-off, the pilot radioed the controller in the Lakefront Airport tower and indicated that he was having problems, which were not specified. The controller gave the pilot a clearance to return to the airport.

Witnesses reported observing the airplane appeared to have engine problems shortly after take-off. According to witnesses the airplane then pitched down and struck the ground.

Franklin Augustus, one of the few African American Airshow pilots in the world, as well as being heavily involved in the local chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, was giving an aerobatic ride to prominent local TV Reporter Nancy Parker when the aircraft went down. The accident did not appear remotely survivable, and the aircraft caught fire as a result of the impact pretty much consuming the aircraft. Augustus noted that he would be using the local aerobatic practice area -- but an NTSB investigator has been dispatched to the scene.

Augustus was flying Parker as she was working on a story about his activities. Augustus was heavily involved in aviation outreach, had been an airshow performer and Aerobatic Competency Evaluator, and gave a great deal of time and effort into introducing young people, especially young African Americans, to the world of aviation. Augustus was 69 years old. 

Ms. Parker, 53, had been a reporter for WVUE-TV for 23 years.

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