Steerman Ashley News Today

The steerman goes to the repair shop. >> airplanes can get fixed. runways can get fixed. people dont get fixed that easy. >> whoa! >> theres a lot of very fortunate things happened that day. the most fortunate thing is nobody got hurt. >> coming up -- rafters are stranded in an icy raging river. >> there are no guarantees that they would be successfully rescued.

Has saved their lives. >> the plane was resting on its upper wing, upside down. took a heck of an impact because we flipped over hard. >> the steerman is one tough little plane. >> it was built for training. they knew they were going to be abused. they knew people were going to be flipping them over and it was just a really well designed airplane. >> in hindsight, mike realizes whats happened is also due to a feature of his vintage plane. its finicky brakes. >> its notorious to be a tough airpla...

A vintage plane lands at washington international airport, and flips upside down. caught on two cameras. >> i was just shocked. i couldnt figure out why that would happen. >> in june 2010, ashley halsey iii, transportation reporter for the washington post, is invited by a friend to take a ride on a vintage plane. >> he said were going to be flying steermans into national airport, would you like to be on one. i said yes, even though i didnt know what a steerman was. >> the steerman, he learns, is...

T or the little deuce coupe. theyre restored, theyre cared for. >> the steerman ashley is to ride in is owned by michael trushell, who performs with the flying circus in northern virginia. >> were going to simulate a strafing and bombing run. >> we replicated an act that was done in the 30s and 40s. >> six shots, down comes the bomb. yes! >> i fly there just for fun. its my excuse to go out on sundays and fly in circles. the beginning of the show, we do formation flying. well do comedy acts. i d...

Prove to be the most widely distributed story of his career in journalism. >> its a camera that ive owned for less than 12 hours and its been picked up all around the world. >> while the video goes viral, the steerman goes to the repair shop. >> airplanes can get fixed. runways can get fixed. people dont get fixed that easy. >> whoa! whoa! >> there are a lot of fortunate things that happened that day. the most important thing is nobody got hurt. coming up, rafters are stranded in an icy, ragin...

Upper wing, upside down. took a heck of an impact because we flipped over hard. >> the steerman is one tough little plane. >> it was built for training. they knew they were going to be abused. they knew people were going to be flipping them over and it was just a really well designed airplane. >> in hindsight, mike realizes whats happened is also due to a feature of his vintage plane. its finicky brakes. >> its notorious to be a tough airplane to land. when i landed in fighting the wind, it was ...

>> it was used to train first-time pilots. a lot of them are flown by barnstorming pilots. they are revered by those pilots the way some people love a model t or a little deuce coupe. theyre restored. theyre cared for. >> the steerman ashley is to ride in is owned by michael trushell who performs with the flying circus in northern virginia. >> we will simulate a bombing run. >> we replicate an old-time barnstorming act that was in the 30s and 40s and down comes the bomb. yes! >> i fly there just...

Has saved their lives. >> the plane was resting on its upper wing, upside down and it took a heck of an impact because we flipped over hard. >> the steerman is one tough little plane. >> it was built for training. they knew they were going to be abused. they knew people would be flipping them over. it was just a really well-designed airplane. >> in hindsight mike realizes whats happened is also due to a feature of his vintage plane, its finicky brakes. >> its notorious to be a tough airplane to ...

Barnstorming pilots. they are revered by those pilots the way some people love a model t or the little deuce coupe. theyre restored, theyre cared for. >> the steerman ashley is to ride in is owned by michael trushell, who performs with the flying circus in northern virginia. >> were going to simulate a strafing and bombing run. >> we replicated an act that was done in the 30s and 40s. >> six shots, down comes the bomb. yes! >> i fly there just for fun. its my excuse to go out on sundays and fly ...

>> for ashley, this video may prove to be the most widely distributed story of his career in journalism. >> it was a camera i owned for less than 12 hours, and its been picked up all around the world. >> while the video goes viral, the steerman goes to the repair shop. >> airplanes can get fixed. runways can get fixed. people dont get fixed that easy. >> whoa! >> theres a lot of very fortunate things happened that day. the most fortunate thing is nobody got hurt. >> coming up -- rafters are stra...