US: Jet-propelled truck crashes at air show, 1 killed

THE ‘SHOCKWAVE’ TRUCK, WIDELY TOUTED TO BE THE WORLD’S FASTEST SEMI, CRASHED WHILE DRIVING DOWN A RUNWAY AT A SPEED OF OVER 483 KMPH

WASHINGTON: The driver of a truck powered by jet engines was killed during a high-speed accident in front of spectators at an air show in the US state of Michigan, relatives said Sunday.

Chris Darnell, 40, died Saturday at the Battle Creek Field of Flight Air Show, where he was driving the SHOCKWAVE Jet Truck down a runway at more than 483 kilometers per hour, according to the local police.

“We have lost our youngest son Chris in an accident doing what he loved; performing with SHOCKWAVE,” his father Neal Darnell said in a post on Facebook. In a separate post, he said the accident was a result of “a mechanical failure on the Jet Truck.”

Video taken at the Battle Creek Executive Airport by attendees and posted on social media shortly afterwards showed the truck losing control, bursting into flames and crashing, flipping over multiple times as horrified spectators looked on.

A thick orange-and-black fireball is seen in the video’s foreground, and truck then disappears behind it and rolls on after emerging on the other side. The crowd can be heard screaming and gasping as the truck then disintegrates into pieces as it rolls along the runway.

Moments before the accident, the SHOCKWAVE was seen spewing pyrotechnic flames from its exhaust pipes, apparently a standard part of the truck performance.

The truck, which was touted as the “world’s fastest semi,” having once reached a record speed of over 600 kilometres per hour, according to the team, and was modified to carry three jet engines on the back, providing it with an excess of 36,000 horsepower.

Battle Creek Police said the rest of Saturday’s schedule was cancelled but the air show would resume later on Sunday, and that police, fire officials and the Federal Aviation Administration had launched investigations.