Motorsport Memorial -

Richard Minges

Complete name: Richard Beryl Minges, Jr.

Birth date: 18.Nov.1938

Birth Place: Cumberland County, NC, United States

Death date: 05.Jun.1971

Death Place: Cape May County, NJ, United States

Nationality: United States

Gender: male

Age at death: 32

Event date: 05.Jun.1971

Series: National Air Races Association

Race: National Air Races at Cape May County Airport - T-6 Class Aircraft Race

Event type: race

Country: United States (New Jersey)

Venue: Cape May County Airport

Variant: 3.1-miles, six pylons (1971)

Role: pilot

Vehicle type: airplane

Vehicle sub-type: aircraft: T-6 class

Vehicle brand/model: North American AT-6D

Vehicle number: 33

Notes:
About 15,000 spectators gathered to watch the National Air Races at Cape May County Airport, near Wildwood, New Jersey, on Saturday, 05 June 1971. The meeting was marred by the deaths of four pilots who were killed during one race. The first fatality, along with the other accident during the same race, is believed to be the worst air racing tragedy to occur in one race on a closed circuit course. The only good news is that no spectators or ground crew members were injured or killed.

Seven airplanes were competing at the Cape May County Airport in the AT-6 Class. All of the airplanes in this class were based on war surplus sales of the North American "Texan" series. The AT-6 series was designed to Army Air Force specifications, while the SNJ series were the same basic aircraft designed to U.S. Navy specifications. The Navy SNJs probably had mountings for arresting hooks for use when landing on aircraft carriers.

On the first lap Richard Minges' North American AT-6D airplane hit a pylon, losing the major part of a wing. The plane crashed and burned and Richard Minges, 32-year-old, was killed on impact with the ground.

Richard Minges was a resident of Fayetteville, North Carolina. He was born in the same county as Fayetteville, but the Birth Index does not specify the city of birth. He held licenses as a commercial pilot and flight instructor, and was instrument rated. He was generally described as a "professional air race pilot". He had competed in the Formula 1 class at the National Air Races in Reno, Nevada, in September of 1970. He had logged more than 5,000 hours as a pilot, but only 100 hours in the type of aircraft in which he was competing in the Cape May County Airport event. The aircraft he was flying was registered as N1974M.

Richard Minges is known to have had one daughter, Mary Virginia Minges, born on 17 January 1970. He was a member of a large family, with ten or more uncles and aunts. His paternal grandfather was the manager of a battery manufacturing company in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in 1930.

Another airplane piloted by Donald Barrett, collided with the debris from Minges' airplane, being able to land without injury to its pilot. Barrett was an experienced American Airlines pilot. He was licensed as an airline transport pilot, with instrument rating, logged with more than 13,400 hours, 830 of them in the type of aircraft in which he was competing. His aircraft was a North American SNJ-5, with registration N1046C. He commented that the roll bar behind his seat may have saved him from serious injury when his cockpit was hit by debris from the Minges airplane.

Richard Minges was competing in a North American AT-6D, similar to this aircraft. Markings were different, with Registration N1974M, and race number 33.
Photo courtesy of K. O. Eckland's Aerofiles.com

This is a North American SNJ-5, the U.S. Navy version of the AT-6, the plane which survived the collision with Richard Minges' AT-6D.
Its pilot credited the roll bar behind his seat with saving his life. Markings would be different, with Registration N1046C and Race Number 4.
Photo courtesy of K. O. Eckland's Aerofiles.com

Four minutes after Minges' accident, on the third lap of the same event, two more planes collided and crashed, and a third plane crashed while attempting to avoid the debris from the first two planes. All three pilots involved in the second accident, Victor Stanley Baker, Edwin Snyder and Joseph Quinn, were killed.

The races at the three day event were sponsored by the National Air Race Association. In 1970 the same organizers had attempted to stage air races at the same New Jersey venue, but had not been able to complete the arrangements in a timely manner. Thus, the air races held at the Cape May County Airport in 1971 are probably the only air races ever staged at that venue.

After meetings with representatives from the NTSB, the FAA, local officials, association representatives and New Jersey aeronautic department officials, the races were allowed to continue as scheduled on Sunday.

The Sunday winner of the depleted AT-6 class was Bob Mitchem of Broomfield, Colorado.

Sources:

1930 United States Federal Census.
Social Security Death Index.
North Carolina Birth Index, 1800-2000.
Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Sunday, 06 June 1971, page ?, Special to The New York Times, article "4 Pilots Die as World War II Planes Crash in Cape May Race".
Newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA, United States), issue of Sunday, 06 June 1971, pages 1 and 3, article "Fiery Crashes Kill 4 Fliers In New Jersey at Shore", by Carlo Sardella and Thomas J. Madden, of The Inquirer Staff [D1]
Newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA, United States), issue of Sunday, 06 June 1971, page 3, article "Tragedy Hits Air Races 1st Time Since Revival", by Gerald Etter, of The Inquirer Staff [D1].
Newspaper Panama City News-Herald (Panama City, FL, United States), issue of Sunday, 06 June 1971, page ?, United Press International news service, article "Four Vintage Planes Crash; Pilots Killed" [H1].
Newspaper News Journal (Mansfield, OH, United States), issue of Sunday, 06 June 1971, page 1, United Press International news service, article "Four Planes Crack Up in Air Race".
Newspaper Nevada State Journal (Reno, NV, United States), issue of Sunday, 06 June 1971, page 1, United Press International news service, article "Air Race Crashes Kill Four".
Newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA, United States), issue of Monday, 07 June 1971, page 1, article "10'000 Sit Hushed in Horror", by Lawrence Walsh, of The Inquirer Staff [D1].
Newspaper The Jersey Journal (Jersey City, NJ, United States), issue of Monday, 07 June 1971, page 2, United Press International news service, article "3 Air Show Crashes Cause Five Deaths", retrieved by website https://www.newspapers.com/image/907751291/ .
Website National Traffic Safety Board, NTSB Identification NYC71AN118, page http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=60085&key=0 .
Website National Traffic Safety Board, NTSB Identification NYC71AN118, page http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=60084&key=0 .
Website Aviation Safety Network, ASN Aircraft Accident 05-Jun-1971, North American AT-6D, N1974M, page http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=10542 .
E-Mail by Jesper Hvid Petersen, dated 18 April 2011, citing [H1].
E-mail by John Durand, dated 04 October 2011, citing [D1].