The Battle Creek Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival’s Facebook web page stated the remainder of the day’s plane present had been canceled. A fireworks present and carnival deliberate for the night had been to proceed, and the air present was to renew Sunday.
The crash befell in the course of the present’s pyrotechnic portion when deliberate explosions had been going off. The crash gave the impression to be unintentional, in line with attendee Michael Mullet.
Mullet stated that because the truck — which is powered by three jet engines mounted on the again — sped down the runway, he noticed a small explosion towards the rear of the automobile shortly earlier than it drove previous the flames from one of the pyrotechnic explosions.
Videos shot by Mullet and different witnesses present that by the point the truck emerges from behind the flames, it seems to be skidding earlier than rolling a number of instances.
Send some prayers for the driving force of the Shockwave Jet Truck.It simply crashed at Battle Creek air present
Edit, no updates but on who was driving the truck and the way he’s doing. https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/kzoo-bc/calhoun/death-at-battle-creek-field-of-flight-air-show?_amp=true.Video was from our son Michael, we had been nonetheless on our approach there.
Update: Rest in peace Chris Darnell🙏
Thank you for the various reminiscences 🙏🙏
This was at all times the spotlight of the air reveals for me.Posted by LaVern Mullet on Saturday, July 2, 2022
Mullet stated he “didn’t see any relation” between the pyrotechnic explosion and the small explosion on the Shockwave. He stated he has seen the jet truck in reveals a number of instances earlier than, when all the pieces would go off “without a hitch.”
Suze Gusching, a spokesperson for the air present, informed the Battle Creek Enquirer that the truck driver was “doing his show and going down the runway,” then “he passed by the explosion, and his truck had exploded.”
Darnell was one of three drivers, together with his father, for the Darnell Racing Enterprises group, which owns three jet vans and performs at reveals throughout the nation, in line with the group’s web site. Darnell’s spouse and mother-in-law assist run the group.
The Darnell Racing web site advertises Shockwave as “the world’s only triple engine jet truck,” a modified semi geared up with three engines initially from a U.S. Navy aircraft, giving it 36,000 horsepower. It can journey at greater than 350 miles per hour and incessantly races planes at air reveals, the web site stated.
Darnell had been concerned with motorsports all his life, as a producer of occasions and a competitor, and owned a truck accent firm, in line with the web site. He was a graduate of Missouri State University.
The five-day present over the vacation weekend is scheduled to characteristic the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, in addition to demonstrations of the Navy and Air Force’s latest jet, the F-35 Lightning II.
The Thunderbirds posted on Facebook that Darnell had carried out alongside them for a few years and was a “a staple of the Air Show community.”
“His love for motorsports and passion for his craft always inspired us and those around him,” it stated.
