Champion stunt pilot dies after mid-air collision with a vulture in Spain

Champion aerobatic pilot Olivier Masurel died on Sunday after a mid-air collision in Spain. The 2023 Spanish champion died after suffering an accident while returning to base from the San Javier Air Festival in his aircraft. According to the organisers of the festival, the incident was caused by a strike with a vulture.

Masurel – a Spanish-French national – had taken part in the festival and according to the organisation’s statement, was on his way back to the Valladolid-Matilla De Los Caños Airport aerodrome, only a few minutes away, when the collision with the bird happened.

The 42-year-old was crowned Spanish Unlimited Aerobatic Flight Champion in July 2023 and represented Spain at the 31st FAI World Aerobatic Championships in Poland in August 2022.

As stated in the air festival programme in which he took part, Masurel was ‘an outstanding pilot whose talent and dedication took him to the top of his field’. It also noted that he was ‘one of the most recognised names on the international aerobatic scene’.

The organisation said it was ‘devastated’ to learn of the pilot’s fatal accident. ‘Flying has been his passion and this accident has taken his life, fly high dear Oliver,’ it lamented in a statement published on Instagram.

The aircraft flown during the exhibition was, according to the programme, an Extra 300 model with a wingspan of eight metres, a range of 891 kilometres and a top speed of 407 kilometres per hour.

The regional government emergency response coordination centre said: ‘The plane caught fire after hitting the ground next to the CM-3012 road, causing the death of the pilot and sole occupant of the aircraft.’

🚒Bomberos del parque de #AlcázardeSanJuan han actuado esta tarde en el accidente de avioneta junto a la CM-3012, que se ha incendiado tras impactar en el suelo, provocando la muerte del piloto y único ocupante de la misma pic.twitter.com/TQruEeUSwk
— SCIS Ciudad Real (@Emergencia1006) May 5, 2024