In Oregon, two men who were operating a vintage M18 Hellcat tank destroyer were killed when something when wrong while they were firing the machine's live 76mm gun.
Ore. pair who restored vintage tanks killed by explosion
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Two dead as WW2 Armored vehicle explodes in Oregon.
Some people think that flying airplanes is dangerous, but there are risks involved with every activity, and sometimes even people with tanks can have a bad day.
In Oregon, two men who were operating a vintage M18 Hellcat tank destroyer were killed when something when wrong while they were firing the machine's live 76mm gun.
Ore. pair who restored vintage tanks killed by explosion
Authorities are still trying to figure out what went wrong. RIP, Steven Preston and Austin Lee.
In Oregon, two men who were operating a vintage M18 Hellcat tank destroyer were killed when something when wrong while they were firing the machine's live 76mm gun.
Ore. pair who restored vintage tanks killed by explosion
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"purchased vintage military shells".. vintage? Practice rounds with solid shot?
ReplyDeleteThat is alot of smoke! It uses a falling block action.
Reloaded ammo? What? I suspect bad ammo. Maybe one round was a squib and stuck a round in the bore or an overloaded round was put in. Could be that, something left in the bore (obstruction), a old HE round and not a 'vintage whatever'.
Anyway the chamber and lock failed and blew up inside the turret.
Prayers for the families.
Just had a thought. Might have been a hangfire and they opened the breach to early.
ReplyDeleteThat's my theory...but I wasn't there.
Delete+1 Paul
ReplyDeleteSad story, but they went out doing what they loved. May they RIP!
ReplyDeleteThey also said that the 76mm ammo has a cap in the back, like a 30.06 round. If you drop it on the cap it can detonate right there.
ReplyDeleteGuess we will have to wait till they release more info.
Sad, they were both good guys. They will be missed.