At Oshkosh 2018, as captured by @ikluft on Twitter, there was the SubSonex JSX in which the subsequent owner, a longtime Shreveport pilot and businessman, tragically met his demise on Sunday.
A man from Shreveport, Louisiana, perished when his single-seat SubSonex JSX microjet crashed into Shreveport’s Cross Lake on Sunday. The pilot and sole occupant, Fred Phillips, a 73-year-old president of an energy company, passed away in the crash that also razed the small jet upon its impact into the water in the presence of numerous witnesses. The NTSB is currently conducting an investigation.
The SubSonex is a jet constructed from a kit manufactured by Sonex Aircraft. The engine powering it is a 25-pound-thrust turbine manufactured by PBS Velka Bites of the Czech Republic. Phillips’ Sonex bore serial number 6 and had been registered with the FAA since December of 2020. The plane had undertaken several short flights over the past month. This particular flight, which lasted just nine minutes, did not have any reported distress calls prior to the crash.
In 2019, Phillips had suffered critical injuries in a home explosion in Colorado, enduring serious burn injuries and spending months in the hospital. His life partner, Electra Churchill, was also killed in the blast.
Phillips was a seasoned pilot and a recipient of the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for his 50 years of safe flying. He was also a philanthropist, renowned for his generous support of worthy causes in both the communities where he resided, Shreveport and Pagosa Springs in Colorado.
The NTSB is engaged in the investigation of the Shreveport crash.
