Aviation Writer Dies In Crash Of Airplane World War Ii Expert Jeffrey Ethell Crashed While Flying P-38 Fighter

Jeffrey Ethell, the author of many World War II aviation books and a television consultant, died Friday evening in a plane crash at a gathering of veteran pilots on the Oregon Coast.

Ethell, 49, was killed about 6 p.m. as he was on approach to Tillamook Airport in a vintage P-38 Lightning that had been restored by owner Bruce Pruitt, a California aviation enthusiast.

“We don’t know what happened,” said Ken Manske, a Gresham advertising agency owner and pilot who acts as spokesman for the Tillamook Naval Air Station Museum.

“Basically, as I understand it, he (Ethell) was taking it for a spin, and he’d flown it around before,” Manske said. “Bruce said, ‘Go ahead and take it up.’ Evidently it went down just south of the airport.”

The Tillamook County sheriff’s department was investigating the crash, but deputies declined to release details.

Manske said Ethell was attending an informal meeting of World War II P-38 pilots sponsored by the museum. The distinctive twin-engine fighter was known for its speed and long-range ability to escort bombers.

Last October, a crash killed the director of the museum, John Matlock, and aviation writer Brian Whetstine of Springfield.

The plane was a Czech-built L-29 Delphin jet trainer, one of about 30 airplanes kept at the museum, which is based at a giant hanger that once housed U.S. Navy blimps. The fatal Oct. 11 crash occurred shortly after takeoff when the plane stalled and flipped.

Ethell had logged more than 5,000 hours of flight time in more than 215 types of military aircraft, including the Russian MiG, and was considered an expert in aviation weaponry.

According to his home page on the Internet, Ethell was the author of “Smithsonian Frontiers of Flight,” a companion volume to the Discovery Channel’s 13-part aviation history series of the same name.

He also served as a technical advisor and writer for the Arts & Entertainment Network’s “First Flights,” hosted by Neil Armstrong.

Ethell had written or co-authored a number of books on photographic collections on World War II airplanes, including “Target Berlin,” “One Day in a Long War” and “Bomber Command.” His biography lists a total of 59 books and more than 1,000 magazine articles.