The T-28B participated in an airshow at Leszno-Strzyzewice Airport, Czech Republic, and was returning to the Flying Bulls home base, Hangar 7 at Salzburg-W. A. Mozart Airport.
On Jun. 20, 2021, the T-28B Trojan belonging to the fleet of The Flying Bulls Salzburg crashed near the town of Jickovice (Czech Republic) south of Prague, killing one of the two occupants and seriously injuring the second person aboard.
According to Aviation Safety, the T-28B (Registration OE-ESA, Manufacturer Serial Number 200-250) participated in an airshow at Leszno-Strzyzewice Airport, Poland, and was returning to the Flying Bulls home base, Hangar 7 at Salzburg-W. A. Mozart Airport.
The T-28B was built to succeed the T-28A Trojan, entering production in 1949 for the US Air Force (USAF). In this low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear and Wright radial engine students and instructors would sit behind each other in one cabin. The Flying Bulls T-28B was built in 1954 and stayed with the US Navy in Washington D.C. as a training plane until 1965.
She was later sold to a private owner and restored. However, she found her true admirer much later, when Sigi Angerer spotted her in Oklahoma City. After tough negotiations, the T-28B was finally purchased. But that was just the beginning of the adventure.
According to The Flying Bulls website, to transport the T-28B to Europe, Angerer first flew the plane to California and then had her taken apart and stored in a 40-foot container, before being taken to Texas by land. From there she was shipped to Hamburg, Germany. Basel-based Swiss company Jet Aviation then took on the task to piece her back together again.
While still bearing US markings, she landed in Innsbruck in 1987 and it wasn’t until later that she was entered into the Austrian Aircraft Registry. She finally made it to Salzburg, where she has been since 2001. The legendary T-28B marked the beginning of a truly fascinating collection of airworthy planes that today take center stage at many air shows.
Since 2016 the aircraft wore characteristic olive-black coloring along with the “NAVY” lettering.
Photo by The Flying Bulls
