A jet-powered stunt truck spun uncontrolled and crashed at an air present in Battle Creek, Michigan, killing the motive force, based on police and photographs of the incident.
In a press release, Battle Creek police recognized Chris Darnell, 40, as the motive force of the SHOCKWAVE Jet Truck, a custom-built semitruck geared up with three jet engines, which was racing down the runway on the Battle Creek Government Airport at greater than 300 miles per hour.
The accident occurred round 1:10 p.m. “through the pyrotechnic portion” of the present on the Battle Creek Discipline of Flight Air Present and Balloon Pageant, police mentioned earlier.
Video shot by air present attendee Mike Westra confirmed the truck racing two planes, dashing down the runway earlier than spinning and crashing. One other video exhibits a parachute deploying behind the truck proper earlier than the crash.
A thick plume of black smoke and fireplace seen within the movies have been a part of the present’s pyrotechnic show and never associated to the accident, Westra advised CNN. Within the movies, the smoke and fireplace are seen earlier than the truck loses management.
Emergency responders have been on the airport on standby and rapidly responded, Westra mentioned. “Inside a minute or two they have been placing water on the fireplace,” Westra added.
Westra noticed the charred wreckage as soon as the fireplace was put out, he mentioned, telling CNN, “It got here to relaxation the wrong way up.”
The accident is below investigation by the police division and the Battle Creek Hearth Division, police mentioned.
The rest of the air present Saturday was canceled following the crash, based on a publish on the competition’s Fb web page.
The SHOCKWAVE Jet Truck is able to reaching speeds in extra of 350 mph, based on the corporate’s web site. Per the location, the truck was pushed by Darnell and owned by Darnell Racing Enterprises of Springfield, Missouri.
In a press release, Darnell’s father, Neal Darnell, confirmed his youngest son had died, writing the accident occurred “because of mechanical failure.”
“We're so unhappy,” Neal Darnell wrote. “Only one month in the past Chris turned 40. He was so nicely liked by everybody who knew him. Chris so liked the Air Present enterprise.”
The-CNN-Wire
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