Despite What Appeared To Be A Decent Ditching Effort, An Outstanding Pilot Was Lost

The airshow community has suffered its second tragedy in nearly as many weeks. Long-time warbird pilot and industry good-guy, Bill Gordon, was lost after the American Airpower Museum P-47 he was flying suffered some manner of propulsion failure and ditched in the Hudson River... not far from the scene of the US Air ditching a few years back, in 2009.

Gordon, seen to be attempting to extricate himself from the rapidly sinking Thunderbolt, was later found still entrapped in the cockpit when the airframe was raised several hours later.

William Gordon, of Key West, was 56 and had decades of experience in the airshow and warbird demonstration roles he expertly played for tens of thousands of people over the years. Gordon's flight was reportedly part of a three ship photo mission as part of the festivities involved with the Jones Beach Airshow. Witnesses report some smoke or other elements emitted by the aircraft before it descended into what appeared to be a fairly well controlled ditching.

According to FAA reports, the Thunderbolt went down near the George Washington Bridge at approximately 1930 local time after departing Republic Airport in Farmingdale, on Long Island, east of New York City. Both other aircraft in the formation returned safely to the field.

At least one person from a passing sailboat jumped into the river to try to help Gordon, but the P-47 was seen to sink rapidly after impacting the water. Thunderbolts went into service, 75 years ago,  in WWII in 1941 and were rugged, heavy fighters known for an ability to weather an immense amount of abuse, flak, and other hazards of war. Remaining flying examples are few. By the end of the war, a Thunderbolt cost $83,000, while a total of 15,678 Thunderbolts of a number of variants were built.

The airframe was recovered from the river on Saturday and has been barged to a Manhattan heliport for examination. The airframe appeared to be largely intact despite the forces of the ditching.

A statement furnished by the American Airpower Museum reads as follows... "The Large and extended family of the American Airpower Museum suffered a tragedy on Friday. An extraordinary pilot who understood the powerful message our aircraft represent in telling the story of American Courage and Valor died after bringing our P-47 Thunderbolt to a forced emergency landing in the Hudson River. Bill Gordon was a nationally respected Pilot in our Warbird Community and we are honored to call him one of our own. The FAA and appropriate agencies will determine the reason for the inflight emergency and accident therefore please understand that as a result we will limit our public statement at this time. For the Past 16 years the Thunderbolt has been a potent symbol of our museum, a keystone to our public presentations here and throughout the north east. It is our commitment to Bill, our fraternity of pilots, docents, and ground personnel that our mission will continue, our focus undiminished in presenting these historic aircraft to the new generation so that they better understand our nation's fight to preserve and protect our freedoms. The Museum will stay open this Memorial Day Weekend, we will stand down from Jones Beach airshow operations today and will perform a salute and missing man tribute to our dear friend and pilot Bill Gordon today with the help of our fellow Jones Beach airshow performers. In doing so we keep alive the spirit of what we all hold dear. Our concern right now is making sure the family of our fallen friend, pilot, and colleague is cared for, and our extended Airpower Museum Family. We dedicate the remainder of the weekend's flying in Bill's honor.

Thank you for your support, and sympathies."

FMI: http://airshow.jonesbeach.com/, http://americanairpowermuseum.com, www.facebook.com/American-Airpower-Museum-123023458399/?fref=nf