Another Air Show Fatality

Another Air Show Fatality

www.daytondailynews.com

Pilot Jim LeRoy died while en route to Miami Valley Hospital in a Black Hawk helicopter, according to Dayton's Director of Aviation Iftikhar Ahmad. .......LeRoy's plane was performing a stunt when he hit the ground and slid about 300 yards and burst into flames. Fire trucks were at the accident within one minute and the fire was quickly extinguished, Carpenter said. But, based on the timestamp from the digital camera of a Dayon Daily News photographer, it took two-and a-half minutes.

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Dayton air shows have been a staple here for years due to our heritage in aviation. Earlier this week, a vintage WWII aircraft made an emergency landing on a Wisconsin highway. July 27th a pilot died during the same air show in Oshkosh, WI. Saturday, July 28th another pilot dies at our air show. The rules regarding safety have changed to include no fly-overs of crowds and spectators, which potentially saved some lives, but being a resident of Dayton I have to wonder why the aerobatic maneuver was performed when the entire region was heavily overcast with a low ceiling. I would encourage any pilots on ATS or aeronautical enthusiasts who know about maneuvers to find out the METAR data for KDAY at the time of this accident (July 28, 2007 2:30 EST). I believe the pilot tried to stay below the ceiling in the maneuver for the benefit of the audience and payed for it with his life.

RIP Jim LeRoy

www.daytondailynews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 29-7-2007 by ben91069]