Wing-walker Dies After Chute Does Not Deploy

By Matt Wiley

An entertainer who regularly 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, located off S.R. 54 in Lutz (just west of Wesley Chapel), on October 19.

The accident occurred at around 3 p.m., when Curto’s parachute did not deploy and his body landed in the backyard of a home on McBrine Ct. in the nearby Grand Oaks community of Land O’Lakes, also about a mile west of Wesley Chapel. The pilot landed safely back at the festival.

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

No additional information is available at this time.

NOTE: Sadly, our October 26 Wesley Chapel issue, which will hit mailboxes Friday and Saturday, Oct. 25-26, included photos of the morning portion of the Festival, but did not mention the accident because it occurred after we went to press with the issue earlier that afternoon. In addition, no one mentioned the accident to publisher & editor Gary Nager when he returned to the Festival at 7 p.m. for the hot air “Balloon Glow” (photos).

“All of the events I got to see were absolutely awesome,” Gary says. “It’s so sad that such a terrible tragedy would mar an otherwise perfect weekend.”

Our thoughts go out to Curto’s family and friends and to the festival organizers.