Sean Tucker Bails Out

Stunt Plane Crashes After Control Stick Breaks
By JENNIFER GRAY
Video High
A nationally known aerobatics pilot had to ditch his plane in Red River
Parish this morning after the aircraft's control stick broke.

Sean Tucker parachuted safely -- despite getting tangled briefly on part
of the plane after getting out of the cockpit.

The single-engine stunt plane crashed in a field near the Red
River-Natchitoches Parish line.

Red River Sheriff Johnny Ray Norman said Tucker was in town to visit
friends while on his way to a weekend air show in Florida.

He was making one last run in a practice area when the main steering
control began to break.

Tucker switched to a backup control to buy him time and radioed in his
situation. The sheriff's office helped him find a place away from any
houses before he bailed out.

"When he was just about out of gas, they got a good field picked out --
no people around -- and he jumped out," Tucker spokesman Karl Koeppen
said.

Tucker, who was not injured, was not available for comment after the
crash.

The single-passenger propeller plane crashed about a mile from the
airport and was destroyed.

In 2003, Tucker was named one of the 25 living legends of flight by the
Smithsonian Institute.
Story Created: Apr 4, 2006 at 12:37 PM EST
Story Updated: Apr 4, 2006 at 11:02 PM EST