On Wednesday the 1st of June 2022, at around 12:15 p.m, a recently restored Grumman FM-2 Wildcat (N909WJ) overturned during an emergency landing near the local road between Schlatt and Bremgarten in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

The accident took place close to the Bremgarten Airfield where the aircraft was based. According to regiotrends.de the pilot who got stuck in the cockpit after the accident was freed by the local firemen and was transported by helicopter to the hospital. The pilot of the historic wildcat is in a serious but stable condition.

The 1944 built FM-2 Wildcat (S/N 16203 / N909WJ) was a relatively new warbird in Europe, the aircraft was transported from from Aurora Municipal Airport in the US to Bremgarten Airfield in Germany only last year. It performed it’s first post-restoration flight on the 20th of May 2022 and was due to appear at the Historical Airshow in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic on the 18th of June.

The aircraft had only 605 hours since ground up restoration by Darrel Skurich and is powered by a Wright R-1820-56W with 607 SMOH by J.R.S. Engine. It is said to include an avionics package as well as Red Line brakes, Jasco alternator, wing jury struts, pre-oiler, oil recovery system and Concorde gel battery.