BURLINGTON – The pilot of a plane that crashed in Skagit County over the weekend had been flying for 34 years and was known throughout the world for his aerobatic stunt flying.
Eric Anthony Beard, 47, of Auburn died Friday night in a crash of his twin-engine Piper aircraft near the Skagit Regional Airport, the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office said. His name was released Saturday by deputy coroner Bob Clark.
Beard, who learned to fly at 14 by taking lessons at a Georgia crop-dusting strip, died in what apparently was a routine flight for Seattle-based Airpac Airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating the accident.
Beard was known regionally for his participation in the annual Tacoma Freedom Fair and Air Show, said Doug Miller, executive director of the Tacoma Events Commission. He flew a red-white-and-blue Russian Yak-54, a single-wing craft with a 360-horsepower engine.
The plane he called “Russian Thunder” was manufactured in Sarotov, Russia, in 1996, as an aerobatic craft and is one of only seven Yak-54 flying in the world.
During the past few years, Beard thrilled Fourth of July crowds with a nighttime pyrotechnics flight, in which he fired rocket-type devices in front and behind his plane as a preview to the fireworks show.
“They were like streaming comets or meteors,” Miller said. “It would be about 10 o’clock. The sun had just gone down. It was just getting dark and the sky was just right for showcasing his performance.”
Fred Rosenfelder, air boss for the Freedom Fair, Seafair and McChord Air Force Base air shows, described Beard as “one of the top three or four performers” in the business.
“He always knew his routine. He was meticulous with the safety of his routine and if it wasn’t right, it wouldn’t happen,” Rosenfelder said.
Beard was a former NASA engineer who worked on the space shuttle and Titan rocket programs. He began aerobatic flying in the early 1980s, according to his Web site. He has performed in hundreds of show over the past 13 years. He most recently flew in four shows in Florida.
He is survived by his wife, Diane, and four children: Sheena Allison, Tiffany Johnson, Lacey Johnson and Trent Beard.
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