Quote:
Originally Posted by Llarry
Jeff was killed in 1997 while practicing for an airshow in a P-38 when he had an engine failure. An engine failure in a high-performance twin-engine aircraft can lead to an uncommanded roll onto the aircraft's back, I believe, and that phenomenon has killed many an unwary pilot at low altitude.
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I am no expert, but I googled an in-depth analysis of his crash. It wasn't an engine failure, but rather pilot error: Jeff neglected to monitor his fuel usage and levels; subsequently a tank feeding one of the engines ran dry, so the engine simply cut out due to fuel starvation. This induced a roll from which he was unable to recover from, being somewhat unfamiliar with that plane. Furthermore, had he been aware, he could have simply flipped a fuel selector switch to another tank and avoided this tragedy.
I'm not trying to sully a great aviator's reputation, but even the best make mistakes. Just look up the cause and subsequent fatal crash of Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, one of our finest and a badass.
