Wing Walker Dies During Festival Of Flight

By Matt Wiley,

An entertainer who walked on the wings of airplanes miles over the heads of spectators has died following an accident during a local air show.

According to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Mark Curto, 62, died after falling off the wing of a World War II-era biplane during a stunt, as part of the inaugural Festival of Flight at the Tampa North Aero Park on S.R. 54 in Lutz (just west of Wesley Chapel) on October 19.

Curto’s parachute did not deploy and his body landed in the backyard of a home on McBrine Ct. in the Grand Oaks community, located across S.R. 54 from the single-runway airport. The pilot landed safely back at the festival.

Kathleen Bergen of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says that the accident is still under investigation.

No additional information was available at our press time, but please also see page 3 for information about why we didn’t include the information about Curto’s tragic death in our cover story last issue.