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Pilot 'unscathed' after her beloved vintage plane crashes in Arizona desert

After attempting to retrace an historic U.S. flight route, British pilot Tracey Curtis-Taylor and her beloved 1940s biplane crash in the Arizona desert.
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British pilot Tracey Curtis-Taylor, standing in front of her 1942 Boeing biplane, "The Spirit of Artemis". On the right, a picture of the plane after the crash.
As It Happens6:48Pilot 'unscathed' after crashing beloved vintage plane in Arizona desert

It would be an understatement to say that British pilot Tracey Curtis-Taylor is fond of her 1942 Boeing biplane, the Spirit of Artemis. The two have a history together — Curtis-Taylor flew the plane around the world last year. And she had just taken it to the U.S. so she could retrace a flight path taken by American pilot Charles Lindbergh in the 1920s.

Tracey Curtis-Taylor, standing in front of her beloved 1942 Boeing Stearman biplane. (PROVIDED)

But earlier this month, Curtis-Taylor's U.S. trip was cut short. She crashed her beloved biplane in the Arizona desert, leaving the plane in tatters — but miraculously, Curtis-Taylor was left unharmed.

The Spirit of Artemis, a 1942 Boeing biplane owned by British pilot Tracey Curtis-Taylor, crashed in the Arizona desert this month. (PROVIDED)

"I walked away unscathed, apart from one rather impressive bruise down my right thigh where the control stick just slammed into me," she says.

She says it could've been much worse. After taking off from Winslow, Arizona, Curtis-Taylor had merely reached 15 metres of elevation when the plane's power went off. The plane smashed into the ground, and "cart-wheeled" — and she says the damage done to the plane is devastating. 

"The day after the accident, I was just overwhelmed with grief. I mean, really, I was just in meltdown."

Curtis-Taylor's plan this spring was to retrace a U.S. Air Mail service route that American pilot Charles Lindbergh had taken in the 1920s. Lindbergh was the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a non-stop solo flight, in 1927. She says it was that trip in 1927 that inspired a new wave of female pilots.

"Suddenly all these privileged, wealthy women were buying biplanes, and heading down the British Empire. It's an era that has huge appeal and nostalgia for me and I fly very much in the spirit of what the women achieved in that era."

American pilot, Charles Lindbergh, standing in front of his plane, the "Spirit of St. Louis." It's the same single engine, single-seat monoplane that was flown by Mr. Lindbergh in 1927, when he became the first person to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean. (U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

Curtis-Taylor says she'll be sending her plane back to Hungary, where it will get a new set of wings and fuselage. And she's had several groups offer up their airplanes -- including from Boeing --  so she can finish the trip. It's an offer she's had to turn down.

"I just passionately want to do it in my own airplane. We've come so far together, I just can't consider not doing it in the Spirit of Artemis."

Curtis-Taylor's hope is that by next spring, she can pick up where she left off and finish her trip from Winslow, Arizona, where the trip was curtailed. 

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