Some Red River Parish residents got a private air show of a different kind from a world renowned stunt pilot around 10:30 Tuesday morning. Sheriff Johnny Norman says, "we saw the plane up and circling, and we saw when he bailed out and it came down". The Challenger Aerobatic Bi-Plane came down in a cotton field on Michael Simposon's I-hope Ranch in Lake End. Simpson says, "I just saw the dust when the plane hit...and a few miles away I saw him parachute down".
The world famous stunt pilot, Sean Tucker, flew out of the Red River Parish Airport to practice his routine for a weekend air show. Tuckers spokesperson, Karl Koeppen says Tucker noticed a mechanical failure shortly after take-off, and just a short time before his 8,500 foot jump. Koeppen says "it took Tucker 15 minutes to assess, when he realized it was unsafe to land, he flew until it was empty, and parachuted down". Koeppen says, "it's not an everyday thing, but they train for it repeatedly". And the training paid off. Now all that's left are the bits and pieces. Norman says, "we have to get it out of this guy's plowed field. Obviously we can't put it back together you know". Sheriff Johnny Norman says the Federal Aviation Administration will not investigate this crash because there were no injuries and no property damage.
