Truck Driver Saves Air Show Stuntman
A pickup truck, traveling at 70 m.p.h., was used to rescue a stunt flier as he dangled from a biplane over an air show at Hillsboro Airport.
About 40,000 people were watching as the wing walker, Lee Oman, slipped and dangled from a safety line about 1,500 feet above the ground Saturday during the Rose Festival Air Show.
Many spectators--including Lt. Mike Allegre of the Oregon Air National Guard--thought the fall was part of Oman’s aerial act.
Show directors realized something was wrong when Oman did not climb back onto the wing of the Waco biplane, Allegre said.
Oman hung suspended for about 20 minutes from the stainless-steel safety wire tethering his nylon safety harness to the biplane’s landing gear.
While show coordinators called for emergency help, a pilot on the ground jumped into a pickup and sped to the runway.
The biplane pilot maneuvered the craft over the pickup and lowered Oman to less than six feet above the truck bed. As the wing walker cleared the side of the bed, a crewman grabbed him and another crewman cut him free of the safety harness.
Oman was not hurt.
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