Four Killed in Wisconsin Air Show Accidents, Include the Daughter of a Two-Time Super Bowl Champ

Stacey Ritzen
·2 min read

A Wisconsin air show ended in tragedy over the weekend after four people were killed in two separate incidents, including the 30-year-old daughter of two-time Super Bowl-winning offensive lineman Bruce Collie.

Devyn Reiley had been piloting a vintage North American T-6 Texan along with her co-pilot, Zach Colliemoreno, 20, during the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture Oshkosh air show at Wittman Regional Airport around 9 a.m. on Saturday, when the World War II-era craft suddenly lost control. The aircraft reached approximately 3,900 feet in the air before spinning out of control and crashing into nearby Lake Winnebago.

The Great Lakes U.S. Coast Guard responded to the scene and dive crews later recovered both bodies. The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department is working with the EAA, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct a full investigation into the crash, according to a press release about the incidents.

Reiley was the eldest of Collie's 13 children, and she had just celebrated her third wedding anniversary just days before the tragedy. Collie was known for winning two Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers in 1989 and 1990, before being traded to the Eagles following the latter season and retiring in 1991.

One witness, Brayden Hiebing, who had been fishing on the lake with his grandfather and saw the accident first-hand, told NBC 26 News that he initially thought the plane was doing a trick. "I heard the plane start coming out of the sky, and it started like spinning and all of a sudden it just made a big splash," Hiebing recalled.

A second accident that claimed the lives of two event attendees occurred that same day, shortly before 12:30 p.m., when a ELA 10 Eclipse gyrocopter collided with a RotorWay162F helicopter in mid-air. The victims were identified as Mark Peterson, 69, who was piloting the helicopter, along with his 72-year-old passenger Thomas Volz.

Both aircraft involved in that crash had belonged to the victims and were not part of the air show.

Operations at the air show were briefly halted during an initial investigation into the second crash, but resumed around 2:45 p.m. after a short delay.