Bobby Younkin and Jimmy Franklin, two of the most respected and best-loved pilots on the air show circuit died as a result of a fiery mid air collision at an air show in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan on Sunday. The air show was immediately cancelled. The two were performing in the Masters of Disaster show when their aircraft made contact in front of 20,000 people attending the Saskatchewan Centennial Air Show at Moose Jaw, the southern Saskatchewan community that is home to the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. The other airborne member of the team, Jim LeRoy, landed safely. Franklin's son Kyle, who earlier in the day performed a wing-walking show with his dad aboard their jet-assisted Waco biplane, was at the time of the accident reportedly describing the performance from the announcer's booth. Details, of course, are sketchy and some facts are unclear. We'll have more information as it becomes available. According to the Canadian Press: "Two of the planes had crossed past each other when the third came up from underneath and smashed into one of the planes." The video we've seen matches that description. There were some inconsistencies in reports available at the time AVweb went to press.
Email this article
