image: Oshkosh Northwestern
Jeremy Monnett, CEO of Sonex, andMikeClark, a Sonexassembly mechanic,died Tuesday when the Sport Acro they were flyingcrashed into a row of military vehicles parked near the runway at Oshkosh’s Wittman Regional Airport, where the kit company is based. “It is with heavy hearts that we report the loss of two members of our Sonexfamily,” the company said in a statement Wednesday morning. Sonex founder John Monnett told employees today that the company “will continue to operate despite the holes left byJeremy and Mike’s absence. It would unquestionably be Jeremy Monnetts wishthat the Sonex company and the worldwide community of Sonex andAeroConversions customers carry on.”
The Acro, N123SX, crashed at theeast end of Runway 9, where manufacturer Oshkosh Corp. stores vehicles.Local police and fire teams responded to the crash at about 3:20 p.m. There was no fire, and nobody on the ground was hurt. Sonex saidN123SX first flew in 2007 and last year was fitted with the100-hp AeroVee Turbo engine. The engine had about 25 hours oftest cell time prior to installation and accumulated about50 flight hours onN123SX. “The engine and airframes performance has been flawless inall respects, including recent long cross country flights to Florida for theSebring and Sun ‘n Fun conventions,” the company said.Monnett, a mechanical engineer, worked for two years at Boeing before joining Sonex in 1998. He also served aslead engineer for the company and was heavily involved in all aspects of flight testing.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to our friends in the Monnett family, who are longtime personal friends and deeply intertwined with EAA,” Jack Pelton, EAA chairman, said Wednesday. “Our condolences also go to Mike Clark’s family at this difficult time, as he too had a passion for aviation.”Pelton wrote in a tribute online that Jeremy Monnett was “agreat dad, engineer, community leader, and friend. Words cannot express how heartbreaking this is for me.”
