Questions are swirling about whether pressure to perform for the crowds at an air show may have cost the life of a celebrated South African pilot.
James O'Connell, a veteran aviator of 36 years’ experience, died on Saturday while attempting to roll an Impala aircraft, which then slammed into the ground and exploded. The drama was filmed by many shocked spectators and distributed widely on social media, generating widespread speculation.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority is conducting an investigation.
O'Connell was well-known in the local aviation community. He served as chief flying instructor for the Test Flying Academy of South Africa and was a retired senior officer of the South African Air Force. However, there are also questions around whether O'Connell was sufficiently proficient at the air manoeuvre, called a ‘dirty configuration’, that cost him his life.
The organisers of the West Coast Airshow in Saldanha quoted eyewitness and commentator Brian Emmenis describing the pilot's final moments in the air.
“He went into the dirty configuration, he rolled the aircraft — the dirty configuration is when the undercarriage is extended — he turned the aircraft, the undercarriage was up,” said Emmenis. “On coming out of it, one could clearly see that he was losing height. He went out towards the hangars — he was at that stage in a serious deep dive — and he went straight into the ground.”
Aviation sources who spoke to TimesLIVE Premium pointed to adverse weather and mechanical failure as two possible factors in the tragedy.
One veteran pilot who witnessed the crash said the low-level cloud may have prompted O'Connell to fly lower than normal.
“To try to keep the crowds entertained, James was too low and slow, hence not being able to pull out of the dive, (it had aerodynamically stalled), and he was heading to rising ground which he hit,” the source said.
“Low-level aerobatic displays should be banned at air shows as that is where many fatal accidents occur.”
Another eyewitness who spoke to TimesLIVE Premium said: “Truth be told, he might have been a hotshot test pilot, but ... he had minimal aerobatic qualifications, especially at air shows.
“He had minimal time in the Impala, had minimal air show aerobatic time and had flown minimal time in the Impala. He was not experienced at doing what he did. He was too low at the start of the performance, definitely too slow in the manoeuvre, lost it while still inverted, did not recover properly and aerodynamically stalled into the ground.”
Prominent military commentator Helmoed-Römer Heitman said the official investigation would hopefully shed light on the cause of the crash including possible mechanical failure.
“No idea what caused the crash. There is a lot of guessing around the flap setting but no-one has a firm idea. That will only come out after the crash investigation,” Heitman said.
A lack of maintenance was sometimes the cause of accidents.
“Mostly older aircraft and in some cases pilots not all that current on the type,” Heitman said of previous air show disasters. “But some of the most spectacular air show crashes involved air force display teams of highly experienced pilots and well maintained aircraft. There have been some really nasty ones in Europe. Then it is usually a lapse of judgment or pure bad luck, like a bird strike.”
News of Saturday's accident prompted hundreds of social media messages, many of them from people who knew O'Connell.
“Air shows are great, but because there's a paying audience, it causes pilots to do things they ordinarily wouldn't,” commented Phillip Marchant on Facebook. “Very sad, and sincere condolences to the family of this highly acclaimed stalwart of the air, but there are always pilot deaths associated with air shows, and I'm not sure what can be done about it.”
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