The driver of a truck that could reach 350 mph because it was powered by jet engines died after the vehicle crashed Saturday while competing with two planes at an air show in Michigan, officials said.
The custom-built racing truck, which was equipped with three jet engines and a combined 36,000 horsepower, crashed during the pyrotechnics portion of the Battle Creek Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival in Battle Creek, Michigan, about 50 miles away southwest of Lansing.
Chris Darnell, the truck driver and a member of a family that has been part of the air show business for many years, was killed, said Barbara Halushka, the festival’s executive director.
“Chris had an accident and the jet truck overturned and, unfortunately, he did not survive,” she said in a phone interview Saturday night. “All other details are 100 percent under investigation.”
In a statement, Mr Darnell’s father, Neil Darnell, said the accident was “the result of a mechanical failure of the jet truck”.
“Chris loved the air show business so much,” he said. “He was ‘Living the dream’ as he said.”
Video footage from bystanders showed the truck driving down the runway at Battle Creek Executive Airport at Kellogg Field in pursuit of the two planes, flames shooting out the back of it. An excited speaker declares, “He’s coming fast! He is coming very quickly!’
The planes involved were a Zivko Edge 540 flown by Bill Stein and an MXS-RH flown by Rob Holland, said Ryan Traver, a festival board member, who added that the pilots of the civilian plane were not injured. It was not clear how fast the planes were traveling.
A thick orange-black fireball can be seen in the foreground of the video, and the vehicle, called the Shockwave Jet Truck, disappears behind it and flips over after appearing on the other side. There are gasps from the crowd as the truck crashes down the track.
Despite what it looks like in many of the videos, the fireball was pyrotechnics and Mr. Darnell did not drive through the flames, Ms. Halushka said.
“The pyro is on the grass,” she said. “The jet truck is moving down the runway. From the crowd, it looks like he’s driving straight through the pyro. But he is not.”
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said that because the accident involved a truck and not a plane, the agency was not investigating. The Battle Creek Police Department, which is investigating, confirmed on Facebook the death of Mr. Darnell, 40, but said it had no further information about the crash. The department could not immediately be reached for comment.
The car was owned by Darnell Racing Enterprises. Phone and email messages left for the company were not immediately returned Saturday evening. The truck was described on its website as capable of speeds of up to 350 mph and as “the most powerful truck in the world,” with three engines providing 21,000 pounds of thrust.
“It’s truly an assault on all your senses with huge flames coming out of the 3 afterburn jet engines, fire shooting out of the smoke stacks, intense heat, deafening noise and SPEED!” said the website.
Mr Traver said Mr Darnell’s act involved pyrotechnics but could not say whether it had anything to do with the crash. A few years ago, Mr Traver wore a fireproof suit and rode the Shockwave, a ride he called “a scary experience”.
“It’s just unreal to be in a jet engine vehicle and be propelled from zero to 300 that fast,” he said. “It’s not like a car on a racetrack where you slowly build up to top speed. From zero to top speed.”
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