Al Holbert's death. How?
lug...@sequent.com
>
>
>Subject says it all.
>Can someone please post a concise description of how he died and when?
>thanks,
>Matt
Plane crash, As I recall from a dim memory, he was piloting his own
plane in between the Columbus IMSA event and the CART Porsche team
endeavour on the same weekend. I recall no other detail as to how the
plane crashed, nor the year. (it all sort of blurs together after
awhile.) 1988 I think it was.
Don "sudden decelaration syndromme" Bolton
Matthew D. Lallo
Christopher D Weber
Al Holbert died when his personal aircraft crashed taking off
from Don Scott Field in Columbus, Ohio. Al was en route to the
Porsche Indycar effort ant (Mid Ohio?) I think when the crash occured.
I believe it was caused by a faulty door latch or somethink smal like
that.
Recently the Holbert family won a large suit against the
aircraft manufacturer.
That's about all I know...
C.Weber
--
+---- Christopher David Weber --- IS --- cwe...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu ----+
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| Member of the Northeast Region Porsche Club of America and the OSU SCC |
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Bruce McCulley
How concise do you want?
Plane crash. A couple of years ago. Plane was Holbert's private light twin.
Holbert had been in Columbus Ohio for practice for the IMSA street race
there, and was returning home to Pennsylvania for the night when his plane
crashed just after take-off. Holbert was alone, and died in the crash.
Initial speculation was that the plane might've been serviced with the wrong
fuel (pistons react poorly when fueled with Jet-A, or is it vice versa?).
I believe I saw a later report that the NTSB concluded his cabin door opened,
not sure if it was a latch failure or if the door was not properly latched,
but I've been unable to locate that just now. I also do not know if the
opening of a cabin door in flight is necessarily catastrophic, eg from
aerodynamic effects, or if it is a problem due to loss of control because of
the pilot reaction.
anyway, hope that helps.
--bruce mcculley
Dan Jones
last 15 or so years.
The ones who come to mind are Graham Hill, Tony Brise (same accident), Carlos
Pace, Al Holbert, Don Yenko, and Jon Woodner. I'm probably forgetting others.
Then Nannini had his helicopter accident that has probably ended his F1 career
and Michael Andretti had a helicopter accident a few years back too.
Its nearly as dangerous in the air as it is on the track.
Scott Fisher
Parnelli Jones said it best. He pitted in an Indy 500 in the early
Sixties, some fuel splashed during a pit stop but didn't catch until
he had headed down the pit lane. The car caught fire about halfway
to the exit, and Jones -- this being in the days before belts and
harnesses -- did a Masten Gregory (or an Alain Prost for those of you
under 30) after pointing the car onto the grass in the infield. He
rolled to an unburned stop; the car went up in flames.
The medical team arrived and wanted to send him to the hospital for
examination, as seems prudent. They started walking him toward a
helicopter, whereupon R. P. balked.
"I'm not going in one of those!" he shouted. "You can get killed
in those things!"
How is Nannini doing, anyway? I'd heard he successfully completed some
test laps in an F3000 a month or two ago and that he hoped to be back in
the hunt by mid-1992. Is there any real chance of that?
David Cornutt
[concerning Al Holbert's fatal plane crash]
>I believe I saw a later report that the NTSB concluded his cabin door opened,
>not sure if it was a latch failure or if the door was not properly latched,
>but I've been unable to locate that just now. I also do not know if the
>opening of a cabin door in flight is necessarily catastrophic, eg from
>aerodynamic effects,
From having spent some time hanging out rec.aviation, I can tell you
that it is not, no more than an open side window on a car. Single-
engine planes aren't going that fast at takeoff, usually around 60-70
mph in airspeed.
>or if it is a problem due to loss of control because of
>the pilot reaction.
Bingo. I can't say for sure that this is what happened to Holbert, but
I've been told many tales by the rec.aviation folks of people who crashed
on takeoff because the door popped open, and instead of flying the plane
they reached over and tried to close the door. Cruise down the interstate
at 70 mph and lean over and fiddle with the right side door, and you'll
get the idea. (Pick a nice *wide* interstate, and don't do it near
me, please. :-)
--
David Cornutt, New Technology Inc., Huntsville, AL (205) 461-6457
(cor...@freedom.msfc.nasa.gov; some insane route applies)
"The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of my employer,
not necessarily mine, and probably not necessary."
David Cornutt
>I find it amazing how many drivers have died in airplane accidents over the
>last 15 or so years.
>The ones who come to mind are Graham Hill, Tony Brise (same accident), Carlos
>Pace, Al Holbert, Don Yenko, and Jon Woodner. I'm probably forgetting others.
Curtis Turner comes to mind. For those of you who aren't up on NASCAR
history, Turner was a well-known driver from the late '50s who had a
legendary running feud with Bill France, and was banned in 1965 for
trying to organize the drivers into a union. He was reinstated a few
years later, but no one would give him a competitive ride. He died when
his single-engine plane went down in Pennsylvania in October 1970.
Speculation was that he had a non-licensed passenger aboard who was
flying the plane while Curtis took a nap; the passenger flew it into
instrument weather and panicked, and couldn't get Curtis back at the
stick in time to save it.
James D. Harriger
mccu...@racy.zko.dec.com (Bruce McCulley) writes:
[concerning Al Holbert's fatal plane crash]
>I believe I saw a later report that the NTSB concluded his cabin door opened,
>not sure if it was a latch failure or if the door was not properly latched,
>but I've been unable to locate that just now. I also do not know if the
>opening of a cabin door in flight is necessarily catastrophic, eg from
>aerodynamic effects,
From having spent some time hanging out rec.aviation, I can tell you
that it is not, no more than an open side window on a car. Single-
engine planes aren't going that fast at takeoff, usually around 60-70
mph in airspeed.
>
> this is airplane dependent: some fly fine with the door open, some
> don't like it at all. some student pilots in cessnas don't even
> notice (don't ask how i know :-) )
>
> al holbert was not flying a single-engine airplane, he was piloting
> a piper twin, of some variety. i also have different memory of the
> event, remembering it as a baggage door popping open. this is a
> bit larger problem than the cabin door, contrary to what one
> would believe at first thought. the cabin door is kept mostly
> closed by the airstream and other than inconvenience, doesn't cause
> any handling problems in the plane. the baggage door in the nose
> is more insidious, since if it comes off of its hinges, its going to
> fly back and take the propellor on that side out. some pilots, when
> faced with a fluttering baggage door, choose to shut down that
> engine, rather than lose it when the door comes off. flying a twin
> on one engine requires that the pilot be very proficient, especially
> for takeoff and landing phases.
>
>or if it is a problem due to loss of control because of
>the pilot reaction.
Bingo. I can't say for sure that this is what happened to Holbert, but
I've been told many tales by the rec.aviation folks of people who crashed
on takeoff because the door popped open, and instead of flying the plane
they reached over and tried to close the door. Cruise down the interstate
at 70 mph and lean over and fiddle with the right side door, and you'll
get the idea. (Pick a nice *wide* interstate, and don't do it near
me, please. :-)
>
> yep, many pilots forget the cardinal rule: "in priority order: aviate, navigate,
> communicate!"-- strong stated by CFI while student was failing to hold altitude
> while fiddling with radios!
>
jim
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uunet!sequent!aviator | Jim Harriger |'sometimes it's hard to tell
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MR...@ucf1vm.bitnet
writes:
>Plane crash, As I recall from a dim memory, he was piloting his own
>plane in between the Columbus IMSA event and the CART Porsche team
>endeavour on the same weekend. I recall no other detail as to how the
>plane crashed, nor the year. (it all sort of blurs together after
>awhile.) 1988 I think it was.
>Don "sudden decelaration syndromme" Bolton
Al Holbert left 'Don Scott Field' or OSU airport after the now defunct
Columbus 500 IMSA race that was held in late October for the few years
it was held. I believe this happened in 1986 or 87, I lived in
Columbus until '87 and I was living there when this happened. What I
remember of the story Al had just left the airport and radioed back
to tower that he had lost power. It was a twin engined plane, he
radioed the tower that he was returning to the airport. Sadly when he
started to turn the plane it plummeted into the ground. Noone really
knows what happened then. It was rumored at the time that the plane
was improperly fueled but as far as I know it was never proven or
ever clear as to what improperly fueled really meant. As far as the
official story as much as I can remember was when he attempted to
turn with only 1 engine the aircraft went into stall and crashed.
Cause Pilot Error? or did the remaining engine quit during a
critical turn? did the plane full tanks of the correct fuel?
Only Al Holbert really knows the answer.
RIP #14 Lowenbrau Porsche
Mike Reed
Former resident Columbus, Ohio