The driver of a truck that was capable of reaching 350 miles per hour died after the vehicle
crashed while racing two airplanes at an air show in Michigan.
The truck was a custom-built race truck, a Shockwave Jet Truck, which had three jet engines
and a combined 36,000 horsepower, crashed during the pyrotechnic portion of the Battle Creek Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival in Battle Creek, Michigan, about 50 miles
southwest of Lansing.
The truck driver, Chris Darnell, was the member of a family that has participated in the air
show business for many years.
In a phone interview on Saturday night, the executive director of the festival, Barbara
Haluszka, said, “Chris had a crash, and the jet truck flipped over, and, unfortunately, he did not live. All other details are 100% under investigation.”
In a statement, Darnell’s father, Neal Darnell, said the accident was “a result of mechanical
failure on the Jet Truck.”
He also said, “Chris so loved the Air Show business. He was ‘Living the Dream,’ as he said.”
Other videos from bystanders show the truck barreling down a runway at Battle Creek
Executive Airport at Kellogg Field in pursuit of the two airplanes with flames shooting out its
back. An excited announcer declares, “He is coming fast! He is coming really fast!”
“The two airplanes were a Zivko Edge 540 piloted by Bill Stein, and a MXS-RH piloted by Rob
Holland,” said Ryan Traver, a festival board member, who added that the pilots of the civilian
aircraft were not injured. It was not clear how fast the planes had been traveling.
Despite what it looks like in many of the videos, the fireball Darnell was “driving into” was
pyrotechnics, and was placed on the grass, so the onlookers would think he was driving through the flames.
The vehicle itself was owned by Darnell Racing Enterprises. Phone and email messages left for the company were not immediately returned on Saturday night. Their responses to these
messages were very vague.
On its website, the truck was described as being able to reach 350 mph and is “the most
powerful truck in the world,” with three engines providing 21,000 pounds of thrust.
“This is truly an assault of all your senses with huge flames coming out of the 3 after-burning
jet engines, fire shooting out of the smoke stacks, intense heat, deafening noise, and SPEED!”
the website said.
Mr. Traver said Darnell’s act included pyrotechnics, but he couldn’t say whether that had
anything to do with the crash. Several years ago, Mr. Traver wore a fire-retardant suit and rode
in the Shockwave, a ride he called “a heckuva experience.”
“It’s just unreal to be in a vehicle with a jet engine and to be propelled from zero to 300 that
quickly. It’s not like it’s a car at a race track, where you’re slowly getting up to top speed. It’s zero to top speed,” he said.
crashed while racing two airplanes at an air show in Michigan.
The truck was a custom-built race truck, a Shockwave Jet Truck, which had three jet engines
and a combined 36,000 horsepower, crashed during the pyrotechnic portion of the Battle Creek Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival in Battle Creek, Michigan, about 50 miles
southwest of Lansing.
The truck driver, Chris Darnell, was the member of a family that has participated in the air
show business for many years.
In a phone interview on Saturday night, the executive director of the festival, Barbara
Haluszka, said, “Chris had a crash, and the jet truck flipped over, and, unfortunately, he did not live. All other details are 100% under investigation.”
In a statement, Darnell’s father, Neal Darnell, said the accident was “a result of mechanical
failure on the Jet Truck.”
He also said, “Chris so loved the Air Show business. He was ‘Living the Dream,’ as he said.”
Other videos from bystanders show the truck barreling down a runway at Battle Creek
Executive Airport at Kellogg Field in pursuit of the two airplanes with flames shooting out its
back. An excited announcer declares, “He is coming fast! He is coming really fast!”
“The two airplanes were a Zivko Edge 540 piloted by Bill Stein, and a MXS-RH piloted by Rob
Holland,” said Ryan Traver, a festival board member, who added that the pilots of the civilian
aircraft were not injured. It was not clear how fast the planes had been traveling.
Despite what it looks like in many of the videos, the fireball Darnell was “driving into” was
pyrotechnics, and was placed on the grass, so the onlookers would think he was driving through the flames.
The vehicle itself was owned by Darnell Racing Enterprises. Phone and email messages left for the company were not immediately returned on Saturday night. Their responses to these
messages were very vague.
On its website, the truck was described as being able to reach 350 mph and is “the most
powerful truck in the world,” with three engines providing 21,000 pounds of thrust.
“This is truly an assault of all your senses with huge flames coming out of the 3 after-burning
jet engines, fire shooting out of the smoke stacks, intense heat, deafening noise, and SPEED!”
the website said.
Mr. Traver said Darnell’s act included pyrotechnics, but he couldn’t say whether that had
anything to do with the crash. Several years ago, Mr. Traver wore a fire-retardant suit and rode
in the Shockwave, a ride he called “a heckuva experience.”
“It’s just unreal to be in a vehicle with a jet engine and to be propelled from zero to 300 that
quickly. It’s not like it’s a car at a race track, where you’re slowly getting up to top speed. It’s zero to top speed,” he said.
