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

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

Dang -- I'm glad he's okay. He's probably the best airshow pilot in
the world, now that Bob Hoover has retired, and Airventure wouldn't be
quite the same without him.

I hope he's got a back-up plane.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

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

Dang -- I'm glad he's okay. He's probably the best airshow pilot in
the world, now that Bob Hoover has retired, and Airventure wouldn't be
quite the same without him.

I hope he's got a back-up plane.

I used to hangar my Skylane three hangars away from his at SNS. The only
plane I ever saw coming and going was the red Oracle thingy.

Nice guy, btw. Always waved back when taxiing by, etc. Glad to hear he
did OK, and I hope he can get back in the air soon.

-jav

In a previous article, Javier said:
I used to hangar my Skylane three hangars away from his at SNS. The only
plane I ever saw coming and going was the red Oracle thingy.


I was staying at a bed and breakfast in the Finger Lakes (in New York
state) once and found out that the owner was a pilot. He said that before
he moved ot New York, he used to be in California, and said that his
hangar mate once asked him to take the door off his Saratogo so a
photographer could get some pictures of his new paint job. Then he
brought out some of the pictures - they were Sean Tucker with the Oracle
paint job. Also, every time I referred to Sean Tucker in front of this
B&B owner, he corrected me saying "Sean D. Tucker" with the emphasis on
the D.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Confidence is the feeling you have before you understand the situation.