Died doing something he loved. A life lived to the fullest. RIP

@@charleshaggard4341 I don't usually go for that "died doing what they loved" tagline...but at 90 years old, I think it does apply here...far better than lying in a nursing home waiting to die....

The fact that he was still doing something he loved so much proves that he wasn’t done living yet. Even at 90, to die this was is still absolutely a tragedy. Lots of people believe in this soundbite sentiment while they’re still alive, but you don’t get to ask anyone if their opinion changes after they’re dead. Dying doing what you love is always tragic.

Amen

Way too early to state such! Autopsy, toxicology, etc. needs to be performed.

😂😂😂

lol not a real photo but ok

​@@BrainWasherAttendentYou're a sad little man and you have my pitty

​@@BrainWasherAttendentglad to see you're brainwashed 😂

This comment is sure to trigger all the space deniers.

...and think about the (more) full life his kids and grandkids coulda lived if he had known when to stop flying.

@@DrJohn493 oh come on really?

​@@DrJohn493 His kids are likely in their late 60's or 70's. His grandkids in their late 40's or 50's. While I'm sure he was an important person in all their lives, it's not like they depended on him anymore. While sad, I'm sure they weren't expecting him to be around forever. 90 is a long life.

Around the moon eh lololo🤡 Vaxxanated eh ?

Sometimes luck runs out late in life. Same with Scott Crossfield who was first past Mach 2 but died in a small Cessna he tried to take through a thunderstorm.

Well said, sir.

Thank you for your comment. I was thinking that he recently Had some bad news from his doctor.

So well said!

That and Pale Blue Dot are the two most iconic space photos, IMO.

I did too, although it was before that. It was at the Camarillo air show and gave an autograph to my sons.

Same with paragliding.

Yup, common R/C saying, most GA pilots I meet seem unfamiliar with the phrase.

We called it "two thumbs high". :)

@jeffr6280 Pretty erroneous to do so. First is the fact that light GA is far more dangerous than driving. Second is that when you get into aerobatics and warbirds the risk increases exponentially. Third is the sheer number of 16 year olds driving vs 90 year olds. 90 year olds get cheap insurance only because they drive a fraction of the amount. Fourth is that when you’re driving next to someone.. your relative velocity is nearly zero. The big wrecks you see are from people overreacting to a lane incursion rather than allowing low speed contact. 90 and aerobatics. This was an inevitable outcome from something who should have stopped flying years before. Sad.

@@calvinnickel9995 90 and aerobatics does not mean an accident is inevitable. It depends on the person's experience and physical and mental state. Granted, there are some old folks who should not walk across the street, but there are also a lot of old people who are still quite capable.

A men to that !

Not an analogous thought. This guy was @ 1 000 feet. Try again....

I don't agree in any way to that. I was driving from the age that I could sit on my grandfather's lap and steer the car down the dirt road. I was driving on highways doing 75mph safely by 16 easily. A 90-year-old pilot is irresponsible and pure ego and hubris. It is driven by the urge to continue doing what gives you joy, not by anything else. There comes a time where you need to hang up your wings for the safety of everyone else around you, and if you ignore that then you are if anything more to blame than a novice who makes a terrible mistake.

QB meetings?

Me too!

@@danielgregory3295 you're right. I just corrected that.

For those who don't know, the V-tailed Beechcraft 35-series Bonanzas were nicknamed "The Fork-Tailed Doctor Killers" because only someone with a doctor's income could afford to buy one, and many who did were not ready for such a high performance airplane. Quite a few well-off doctors got into trouble and died in their new Bonanzas back in the day.

Earthrise Gallery In spring of 2022, HFM opened the Earthrise Gallery, an exhibit that walks visitors through mankind’s first trip to the Moon. The successful Apollo 8 mission set many firsts in the history of human spaceflight. Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders became the first humans to leave Earth’s gravity and enter the gravity of another celestial body. They were the first humans to see the far side of the moon with their own eyes. The famous “Earthrise” photograph taken by William Anders later became known as one of Life Magazine’s “100 most influential photographs.” Six display units tell the Apollo 8 story from its inception to its lasting legacy. Video displays recreate the awesome launch of the Saturn V rocket, the crew’s life aboard the Command Module and the famous first Christmas Eve broadcast from the Moon. Artifacts on display include a piece of the Moon encased in NASA’s Ambassador of Exploration Award and presented to HFM founder William Anders.

Hopefully you mean Apollo 8.

Right on! 👊

Same here (in 1968 for me). I remember loops were pretty easy but at that stage of training they did make be nervous. I do remember the Navy was VERY insistent on entering with the right airspeed. I am thinking Basic had a minimum altitude for aerobatics, but don't remember what it was; do you?

Went through primary in early 1969 also; old man now but if memory serves me, we did aerobatics from 6000 ft. Spins, loops, split s etc. could be wrong but that’s what came into my head first so correct me if I’m wrong.

@@georgegilbert7347 No, I don't remember a minimum entry altitude requirement, but since the Navy had a procedure for everything, I'm sure there was one.

All good Juan. My mom lives on Samish Island. Thanks for your efforts.

Wow, harsh way to treat your viewers

@@Jennifer-007 Not everyone is concerned about whether people are offended over trivial matters. This is an air safety channel, not a geography channel.

LOL It's a Very common mistake, Juan.... But I was VERY tuned in to find out as much as I could about the accident! Life-long 'Skag(j)itonian here! My youngest son learned to fly out of Skagit Regional Airport. His first 'paying' flight was taking me and my fiance out to Friday Harbor for dinner. I had told him he could live 'rent free' as long as he was making progress on the license... and I got 'first flight'!!! Very sad accident!!

I lived in the Seattle and Islands area from about 87 to 98. Had to learn all the weird names of places, and their even crazier local mutations. lol. I pronounced everything wrong for a couple years. "Skă-jət". for those curious what we're talking about.

That makes sense and aligns with the potential scenario described in the video. Unfortunate.

Yep, even RC pilots flying their toy airplanes recommend this.

He is an absolute legend. You make a good point on age. 90% of this chat will not see 80, as they can't stop participating the poison that is our food supply, or one of the many drugs that gets people through life. Their biggest accomplishment, being avoiding that 3rd divorce. This man was flying aerobatics at 90. That is so damn impressive, the idea alone is worth 10 years of any of our pathetic lives.

I like your comment.. but the "Good Lord" is an invention of human thought.

only the propaganda can fly

Why would YT do this???

@@alanw.4511 The news channel might be the rights holder and youtube doesn't want to monetize content where people die or are injured in the video - even if it is news.

Great news!

@@alanw.4511 The video shows an explosion or fireball as the aircraft hits the water at an angle and skips. It seems if he had about2 or 300 feet additional altitude he could have recovered. My question, what was he thinking? A pilot with his experience and smarts apparently exhibiting very poor judgement. Showing off to someone on the ground or on the water perhaps?

Drug addiction is cheaper and quicker.

@@baomao7243 but aeros is much more attractive!

@@antontsau won’t disagree

Base jumping?

Is your mom suicidal? She sounds like she hates her life

Really, he captured that picture? I didn't get that from the 1000 other comments and articles that mention that. I must be dense.

" If his medical was up-to-date, it doesn't matter how old he was... " Get back to us when you're ninety and we'll see how you feel about that comment then.

The medical is not a certificate of capability of judgement in aerobatic flying. Flying solo at 90 should not be allowed in any kind of flying.

​@davidkavanagh189 Agreed. There come a time where if you want fly where it good enough to get up there and leave acrobatics to the younger pilots.

I watched bambi when I was 8, that wasn't real either

There I'd agree. Aviation is demanding enough that if the motivation starts to flag, then other important things might go by the wayside. E.g. you're just not quite as thorough with your pre-flight, and that catches up with you to fatal effect. I thought about taking lessons, but I came to realize that I'm just not sharp enough that way. The way great pilots such as Dale Snodgrass and Matt Hayden died made it clear I just have too many brain farts to be a pilot, and I'm saying this as someone who took a degree in math and has programmed computers for most of my life.

Someone posted in another YT vid a sentence that applies to this tragedy; The older I get, the better I was...

Its inappropriate to compare him to normal people, for at best they are pathetic in comparison.

@falsedragon33 The laws of physics do not care even slightly about a pilot’s skill level. Performing acrobatics at extremely low altitude is unbelievably foolish, as this very crash proves.

​@@falsedragon33OK boomer. Muh tinfoil and LSD

How is that a sad loss? He lived until 90, and gave more than 1000 other men to society. Only to die doing what he does with a body that can no longer do it. It was his time. Now its ours to celebrate, for someone showed us how to really live.

My theory: he may have suddenly pulled harder after realizing he might be too low and couldn't complete the maneuver, loaded up the wing and stalled. The video appears to show a flattening of the curve before he hits the water. Analysis of the video might be able to plot the flight path more accurately.

Looks like he dished out on a roll at a low altitude. Ive done the same and witnessed experienced acro pilots do the same - one with a fatal outcome. Altitude is your friend.

Yup. That's what I saw and I'm not a Aviator.

Yes. Is a 90 year old doing acrobatics at greater risk of blacking out? Too early to conclude anything, but Anders had a remarkable life for sure.

I am 52 and do not feel any significant problems from 4g pullout. Problems start at 6G, on 8G they are unevitable, but its only for jets or very special hardcore sport planes rated 10G.

@@antontsau No problem 4 u youngsters. wait 'til u try it at 80. Maybe @ 90 u pull back hard enough to blackout. just thinkin.

@@raybame5816 at 80 mb. But not "40, its time to retire from flights!"

That's what it looked like. Ran out of sky.

It makes sense when you see the vid. He simply ran out of sky at the bottom of whatever he was doing.

Men like that never tired to prove anything. They left that for the pathetic. RIP, and absolute legend.

I thought about that as well.

I’m not persuaded first of all, he would wreck a nice plane like that. Occam was pretty sharp like that. He did provide interviews where he intimated that he would be flying so long as he could crawl in the cockpit. That’s not a bad philosophy. That’s how I will remember him. Never give up!

I think that more likely was a brain "hiccup." I am only 70 and I am starting to notice me having done something that makes me think, why did I do that, I know better. I grant you that because he was capable of doing what he was still doing at 90, his brain was probably working better than mine; but, I can easily imagine a situation where he could have not considered his altitude. If you are under 70 or 80 or 90, and say that you can't imagine something like that happening to you, just wait and see.

That seems like a very reasonable explanation of what might have happened here.

And none of those pilots were 1/100th of the man he was. Bill dominated the game of life.

@@falsedragon33 If something goes wrong, at 1K feet, there's NO time to recover. 1/1000 of the man he was...what are you in grade school? No one attacked the man, calm down. 3:50... are you going to call him 1/000 of the man he was.... ?

Has noone met a 90 year old ? . Most arnt even allowed to drive a car anymore in most countries let alone fly a plane.

I was just going to say that…

Same

Me too.

Thank you!!!

Roger...