# P-51 Mustang Pilot Killed in Louisiana Airport Crash
A World War II-era P-51 Mustang crashed near the Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport in Louisiana, killing the pilot identified as Dan Fordice.
A Mississippi-based warbird pilot was killed when a North American F-51D Mustang crashed at Tallulah/Vicksburg Regional Airport in Mound, Louisiana, according to AVweb. The report says the aircraft was airborne for only about three minutes before the accident and that the plane was destroyed.
The pilot was identified as Dan Fordice, chairman of the Southern Heritage Air Foundation and a veteran aviator with more than 5,000 hours of flight time. The excerpt also says he was the son of former Mississippi governor Kirk Fordice. Those biographical details matter because they show the loss was not only aviation-related but also personal to a prominent preservation community.
The aircraft type is significant. An F-51D is the postwar U.S. Air Force designation for the P-51D Mustang, the World War II fighter more commonly known as the P-51. That means the crash involved a historic military aircraft rather than a routine general-aviation plane. The evidence does not say whether the aircraft was on a demonstration flight, a training sortie or a ferry flight, so the article should not assume the purpose of the trip.
Few technical details were released immediately. The excerpt says the FAA and NTSB were responding to the site, which indicates the usual federal accident-investigation process had begun. It also notes that the Madison Parish Sheriff's Office confirmed a fatality before the pilot's name was publicly released.
The report names the aircraft as N251CS and says it may have been Charlotte's Chariot II, a restored Mustang painted to honor World War II aviator Cary Salter. That detail suggests the plane had historical and commemorative significance, though the packet does not independently confirm the registration history or the restoration program.
Because the evidence comes from an aviation outlet rather than a full investigative report, several points remain unknown: the cause of the crash, whether weather was a factor, and whether mechanical failure or pilot error played a role. The article should not speculate beyond the confirmed fatality and the fact that investigators were on scene.
What is clear is that the accident removed both a pilot and a steward of aviation heritage from the community. Fordice's role with the Southern Heritage Air Foundation suggests he was active in preserving and flying vintage aircraft, which makes the crash especially resonant among warbird enthusiasts.
Until official findings are released, the safest account is limited to the basic facts: a historic Mustang crashed in Louisiana, the pilot died, and investigators from the FAA and NTSB began looking into what happened.
