Paul Mantz Flight of the Phoenix Accident

[johnbr]

YouTube - Paul Mantz "Flight of the Phoenix" accident

[ccheese]

If you watch closely, the fuselage breaks when the skids hit hard, throwing
the tail and the nose down, while the center section goes up.

A shame.....

Charles

[evangilder]

Indeed a shame. Looks like once the tail broke off, the CG was way off and nosed it over.

[Wayne Little]

....A favourite movie too....

[Graeme]

The FAA felt that his BAC of 0.13 may have contributed...

The FAA investigation noted Mantz's alcohol consumption before the flight and said the resulting impairment to his "efficiency and judgment" contributed to the accident.

Paul Mantz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Another site promotes the theory that his BAC was falsely elevated due to the desert heat and extended time before the autopsy was carried out...

Aero Vintage Books: Paul Mantz Alcohol Content

"Ethanol can be produced in the human body after death and be measured in a postmortem sample. Below are two abstracts from articles that may be of interest to you. Several of my own years of forensic pathology practice were in Arizona - it does not take long for postmortem decomposition to start in the heat of the desert".

[FLYBOYJ]

I was told that the director was actually done with the scenes for the day but insisted on one take which resulted in the accident - the clip was never used in the film.

A portion of the aircraft "wreck" was stored at Aviation Warehouse in Hawthorne Ca. In the early 80s the company moved to El Mirage Ca. so it still might be on their lot.

[wilbur1]

Wow it didnt seem like he bounced that hard, wonder if the frame was weakened by the earlier landings

[trackend]

It appears to me from the nose on shot that one occupant is flung face down from the cockpit as the plane cart wheels forward.
What ever a very sad end to a great pilot, but then he was in a very risky business.