Turbulence led to crash
during ‘Pearl Harbor’
filming, NTSB says

The plane's wing hit a palm tree
during filming of a low pass

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

A pilot's failure to anticipate turbulence led to the crash of his replica Japanese Val dive bomber during the filming of Disney's $140 million movie "Pearl Harbor" on Ford Island last year.

The National Transportation Safety Board, in its final report this month on last year's accident, said the producers of the movie were filming a low pass of three replica Vals over 65-foot palm trees during one of the many re-creations of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.

"The No. 2 and No. 3 wingmen were to stack up (above) on flight leader No. 1," the report said. "At the completion of the pass, the No. 3 wingman's left wing contacted a palm tree, severing 18 feet of left wing.

"The airplane rolled twice and descended into the ground."

The pilot of the modified Convair B-T13A, Gene Armstrong, walked away from the April 17, 2000, crash with a broken finger and minor cuts. However, his plane, valued at $225,000, was a total loss.

The NTSB interviewed Armstrong while he was being treated at Tripler Army Medical Center.

Armstrong said the last thing he recalled was experiencing turbulence from the flight leader. At the time of the accident, Armstrong's plane was the No. 3 wingman in a group of three Vals flying in a modified "V" formation making a low pass.

Armstrong, one of five pilots contracted by Disney, also said smoke generators used that day on Ford Island were not an issue and that he did not fly into or through smoke.

Palm trees on the movie set had been temporarily relocated along Ford Island's Luke Field just for the movie. Debris from the crash was strewn along the runway.

The Convair was owned by American Airpower Heritage Museum in Midland, Texas.

Armstrong's plane was one of two B-T13A Convairs modified to look like Japanese Aichi D-3AI dive bombers. Four World War II warbird replicas from the Midland organization were used in the Disney movie. Two others were T-6 trainers rebuilt to resemble Japanese Kate torpedo bombers.

The NTSB said the Convair was first made over in 1969 for the movie "Tora, Tora, Tora," which depicted the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor from both the Japanese and U.S. sides.

Bob Rice, executive director of the Confederate Air Force, said Armstrong's plane used in the 1969 movie was originally built in 1943 and used as a trainer until 1969.

The Jerry Bruckheimer-Michael Bay film "Pearl Harbor" held its world premiere on the flight deck of the nuclear aircraft carrier USS John Stennis at Pearl Harbor last week in advance of its Memorial Day nationwide screening.