56 replies to this topic

[sandy]

Originally posted by Lotus23
Henry, there's something about that tragic story which strikes me as odd.

My skydiving dates back to that same year (1960). We were required to complete a minimum of 5 static-line jumps (from 2500 ft) before being considered for any free-falling. And yet this young lady is free-falling from 10K feet on only her third jump. Sounds like a lack of proper training may have been a factor in this accident. (FWIW, those old WWII era T-10 parachutes didn't always open as reliably as today's models do.)

You are right in several respects: when I started to skydive in 1962 we had the same deal - 5 static line @ 2500 feet then first freefall. We were also using old military parachutes and on my first freefall I found out after leaving the plane that someone had jammed a metric ripcord into an imperial measurement chute and that I could not get enough leverage to pull out the pins. The reserve wasn't over keen to open either but, obviously, I made it so jumped again 20 minutes later and being somewhat nervous yanked the ripcord so hard away sideways that where it came over the shoulder in a flexible tube all of the old stitching tore loose and so no leverage again - I could see the ripcord in my outstretched hand but no canopy - there is still a film shown of me falling away from the plane with the released ripcord, still in the tube, glinting in the sunlight above my head, out of reach. Reserve again, went back up the following weekend, another static line jump then finally a trouble free freefall. To say that I was a little apprehensive when I was to make that later freefall is an understatement - **** scared would be more like it. If you are interested in a photo of the chutes we used I will dig out a photo, do battle with image shack and put it up.

[fines]

Originally posted by Nanni Dietrich
I've found a short article on an old Italian magazine about an accident which happened at Indianapolis in 1961. Before the start of the Indy 500, during the "Golden Anniversary of the 500" ceremony an air balloon crashed on the Snake-Pit at Turn 4, several spectators were injured, possibly someone died.
No other detail.

I don't think I have ever heard about a pre-race fatality in 1961 at Indy, and I always understood the "snake pit" to be inside of Turn 1 rather than 4, but in 1960 there was a big scaffolding accident in the infield just prior to the start of the 500 with two fatalities and close to a hundred injured, very bad. I also recall a scaffolding accident with fatalities at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, 1977?

Also, there was a similar accident with a camera platform crashing down and killing two, at a Champ Car event (Springfield? 1966?).

[Graham Clayton]

Indy 1960: A selfmade grandstand within the infield collapsed (there are pictures of it going down), 2 spectators killed.
The till then tolerated scaffolding was banned from then on at the speedway.


henri Greuter

Henri,
Here is a very thorough and comprehensive report of the accident (does include pictures of the scaffolding collapsing):

http://anengineersas...se-at-1960.html

[David Lawson]

I can't remember the details now but wasn't Carlos Pace killed in a light aircraft crash at the start of his journey to a grand prix in Europe?

David

[B Squared]

Was joining his wife and children shortly before departure for the U.S. Grand Prix at Long Beach - from the Modesto Bee, Sunday March 20, 1977; paragraphs 4-6:

http://news.google.c...;pg=985,1598275

[Jager]

At Le Mans in 1925, Andre Guilbert was making his way to the circuit during the morning of the race where he was entered to compete in his Ravel.

Not far from the circuit, his car was struck head-on by a van (reportedly traveling at high speed on the wrong side of the road). The van driver only suffered slight injuries, while Guilbert died a few hours later from his injuries.

[Michael Ferner]

At a Thankgiving Day (November) race in 1923 at the board speedway in Beverly Hill, California Fred Wagner, starter extraordinaire, gave Harry Hartz permission for a fast lap prior to the start of a 250 mile race to test his engine. The only problem was that the rest of the cars were lined up for the start with a crowd milling around the start area. Hartz came through at about 50 mph, killed two people and injured one. Killed were George Wade, a car owner (Harlan Fengler, driver) and William Hughes, the official photographer.

Hughes was hit dead-on and thrown 100 yrads down the track, loosing both legs and tumbling through the air, dead at impact with the track... grafically shown in great detail in the local newspaper. Wade tried to scramble out of the way and was hit a glancing but fatal blow. A Duesenberg mechanic fractured his leg. To quote Hartz "seeing that I did not have a clear track, I slowed down. I was not going over forty or fifty miles an hour at the time I hit the photographer. He stepped directly in front of my machine and I did not know that I had struck either Wade or Lee (the mechanic). Wow! Wonder what would happen today?

The race went on after everything was cleaned up and the bodies removed, including treating many people in the stands for shock and upset stomachs at the infield hospital... Tom Mix, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin among them. It happened right in front of the good seats and within 5 yards of the grandstand.

There was no official investigation and no one reprimanded or punished for their stupidity.

A good discription is in Peter De Paolo's "I drove the Boards" series in Speed Age and my book on Murphy. The fullest account is in the November 30, 1923 Los Angeles Examiner newspaper.

1920sracing

For those with a strong stomach, there are four pictures of this incident on the Revs Digital Library site, starting with this one: https://revslib.stan...log/qp379vt5333, showing Hughes lying on the track with Hartz disappearing into the distance, and Leon Duray in the foreground wondering what's going on. https://revslib.stan...log/xf521sq8357 shows people attending to Wade immediately in front of the box seats, with Fred Wagner looking on and the brand new car of eventual winner Bennie Hill in the foreground. More of the same at https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/wg415mr0429, while https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/qd176py5941 is an eerie shot of the starting line-up a few minutes after the accident. Wade's car is the one on pole position.

Edited by Michael Ferner, 08 November 2015 - 16:04.