HAWKER HURRICANE CRASHES AT CHEB AVIATION DAYS
On Sunday afternoon, during the second day of the aviation day in Cheb a World War II era Hawker Hurricane Mk. IV crashed into a house during it’s display.
On Sunday the 14th of August 2022, a Hawker Hurricane (OO-HUR) belonging to the Aviation Museum in Tocna near Prague crashed during it’s display at the Aviation Days in Cheb a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. Sadly it was confirmed that the pilot was tragically killed in the accident.
The Airshow organizers have released a statement saying that;
"There was a plane crash at the airport. The event was terminated in accordance with the emergency plan. All emergency services are on site to deal with the situation. The tragic accident happened behind the airport grounds, in a field, outside the development,"
The accident took place close to the Cheb Airfield where the aircraft was based for the weekend. According to witnesses the plane suddenly lost altitude while turning and disappeared from sight. The plane has crashed into a family house but thankfully no one on the ground has been seriously injured.
The spokesperson for the Czech police said;
"A plane crashed in Podhrad in Chebsko. Unfortunately, the pilot was fatally injured. All components of the IZS intervene on the spot. " Communication is completely closed at the scene, "
Radek Hes, the spokesman for the regional rescue service said that;
"Two ambulances were sent to the scene, one rendezvous, and a helicopter from Pilsen-Líní also flew to the accident site. The pilot of the crashed plane received fatal injuries"
Petr Paces was named as the pilot who lost his life, he was a very experienced ex-Mig-21 fighter pilot, a flight instructor as well as the captain of the Boeing 737 airliner.
Passionate about flying Petr Paces started flying gliders at the age of 14 before moving onto powered aircraft three years later. After school, he flew as a Mig-21 fighter pilot until 1992, leaving the army to join Air Traffic Control. Almost twenty years ago, he started flying the Boeing 737 airliners. He has also often displayed historic aircraft sharing his love for flying with thousands of people each year.
Hurricane Mk. IV was one of the final variants of the Hawker-manufactured fighter, produced between 1942 and 1944. At that time, Hurricane was no longer a pure fighter aeroplane, performing mostly the ground-attack missions (and therefore often nicknamed as ´Hurribomber´). The armament was adapted to the new role and included two bomb mounts (250 or 500 lb), two 40 mm Vickers S guns and eight RP-3 rockets, with additional two Browning .303 Mark II used for aiming the main armament. 524 aircraft of this variant were made.
The pictured aircraft was manufactured sometime between end of 1942 and March 1943, the exact date and serial number are not known, as the aircraft was previously intended for storage and all manufacturer plates (and also the original engine) were lost somewhere between 1946 and 1983. Its long and interesting history can be followed since March 1943, when Hurricane Mk. IV became operational with the 6th Squadron, Royal Air Force.
The 6th Squadron, flying over the Western Desert, was nicknamed ´The Flying Tin Openers´, just because of their anti-tank missions in Africa. When the Italian campaign started, the squadron was transferred to Italy, and then to Greece, with some deployments to Bastia, Corsica. The everyday operations were focused on attacking the harbours and ships along the Yugoslavian coast and the Dalmatian Islands.
In July of 1945 the squadron returned to Palestine, its initial location from 1938. And sometime there, at the beginning of 1946, the Hurricane Mk. IV was abandoned, as the 6th Squadron converted to Hawker Tempest aircraft.
Many years would past before the Hurricane was recovered from the scrapyard near Jaffa, Israel, in 1983. The aircraft returned to Biggin Hill, UK, and the long reconstruction process started. It was finalized in April 1991, when the aeroplane received the certificate of airworthiness again and was registered as G-HURY / KZ321.
The Hurricane Mk. IV was flying in UK until 2001, when the second restoration began and lasted two years. In 2006 the aircraft was sold to the private owner in Canada and was flying there until 2018, when it was offered for sale. Bought by the private owner from Belgium, the KZ321 was registered as OO-HUR and returned to Europe again, with Antwerp Airport being the new home for Hawker Hurricane Mk. IV.
In early 2021 the aircraft received a new livery and was bought by a group of Czech aviation enthusiasts from the Aviation Museum Tocna. As a tribute to the Czechoslovak airmen who served in the RAF during WW II, OO-HUR was painted in the colours of Hurricane Mk.IIc “BE150”. This aircraft with code “JX-E” was flown by Czechoslovak ace Brig. Gen. Karel Miloslav “Kut” Kuttelwascher , DFC and bar in No.1 Sqn RAF.
