Stunt Pilot Dies in Fatal Air Show Crash in Kansas City

Aug. 21, 2011 — -- A stunt pilot died at a Kansas City air show when his plane spiraled and plummeted nose-first into the ground, in one of two fatal air show plane crashes this past weekend.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have emergency personnel who are prepared for this. We have planned for this sort of an event," a voice said over the loudspeaker as thousands watched, stunned, and one shouted, "Holy cow!"

Upon hitting the ground, the plane immediately burst into flames, Saturday.

"Huge explosion that you could hear from quite a ways and that was about it, you knew there was no way he was going to survive that, unfortunately," witness Matt Stone said. "So, that was a bad, bad scene.

The pilot, Bryan Jensen, was a professional pilot for Delta Air Lines who had been flying aerobatics for 15 years, according to his website.

No spectators were injured, Missouri Department of Aviation spokesman Joe McBride said.

It was the first fatal crash at the annual Kansas City Aviation Expo Air Show, McBride said, according to The Associated Press.

The Kansas City Aviation Expo Air Show was cut short yesterday after the crash, but is resuming today.

The crash was one of three fatal accidents at air shows this weekend. In England, Saturday, a British Air Force jet crashed during an air show there.

A prestigious Red Arrows pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging, was killed when his Hawk T1 aircraft broke away from the nine-member RAF display team, began flying low to the ground and crashed into a field near Bournemouth Airport in Dorset, according to the Guardian.

And in Michigan, a wing walker was killed during an air show at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base, when he fell 200 feet from a moving plane as he tried to climb onto a passing helicopter, ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV in Detroit reported.

The 127th Wing based at Selfridge identified the stuntman as Todd Green, and officials said he was flying on a Steerman aircraft operated by John Mohr, according to WXYZ.

"He fell off the plane as he attempted to transfer from his aircraft to a helicopter," the statement said. "He fell about 200 feet to the ground."

Meanwhile, a Boeing 737 passenger jet crashed Saturday in Canada's High Arctic, killing 12 of the 15 people on board, and injuring three others, Canada's CBC reported. Both black boxes were recovered, but the cause of the crash has not yet been determined.