Plane crashes at Dayton Airshow--1 Dead

Pilot was transported by air to a local hospital.

Plan crashes at Dayton air show

Associated Press - July 28, 2007 3:35 PM ET

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - The Dayton Air Show has suspended activities after a small plane crashed performing a loop-to-loop with another plane.

Witnesses say the accident happened when 1 of the planes swooped toward the ground and crashed.

Black smoke and flames could be seen from the crash site.

The pilot was taken to Miami Valley Hospital.

wdtn.com/Global/story.asp?S=6853933

Dayton Daily News ](http://www.daytondailynews.com/p/content/gen/sharedoh/photos_galleries/news/local/2007airshowcrash.html) photo of aircraft striking runwayNews update](http://www.daytondailynews.com/e/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/07/28/ddn072807crashweb.html)
N99MF](http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNumSQL.asp?NNumbertxt=99MF) FAA RegistryN99MF photo](Pitts S-2S Special - Untitled | Aviation Photo #1227689 | Airliners.net)

LiveLeak video](http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?token=16b_1185663103)

Jim LeRoy Bio ](BulldogAirshows.com | Jim Leroy's Official Website)Jim LeRoy’s Official Website](http://www.bulldogairshows.com/)

1](Pitts S-2S Special - Untitled | Aviation Photo #1209026 | Airliners.net)2](Pitts S-2S Special - Bulldog | Aviation Photo #1180623 | Airliners.net)3](Pitts S-2S Special - Bulldog | Aviation Photo #1177120 | Airliners.net)4](Pitts S-2S Special - Bulldog | Aviation Photo #1174884 | Airliners.net)5](http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1064963/L/)6](Pitts S-2S Special - Bulldog | Aviation Photo #0993648 | Airliners.net) 7](Pitts S-2S Special - Bulldog | Aviation Photo #0993647 | Airliners.net)8](Pitts S-2S Special - Untitled | Aviation Photo #0883486 | Airliners.net)9](Pitts S-2S Special - Untitled | Aviation Photo #0867275 | Airliners.net) N99MF and Jim Leroy in action!!!

YouTube Videos](http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jim+leroy)

Drove by the airport a few minutes ago… There were investigators looking at the crash site. The plane was not there though.

I was there…saw the whole thing. Looked like he did not have enough altitude to complete the loop and pancaked into the ground (I had noticed that he was lower at the top of his loop than the other airplane was at the top of his and thought it odd). There were some initial sparks and he skidded a couple hundred yards. The aircraft then was engulfed in flames. I expect injuries from the impact kept him from getting out of the aircraft before the fire. The fire department claimed they were there in under a minute, but it was more like 2 to 3 minutes…once there, the fire was extinguished quickly. Once extricated from the plane, Jim LeRoy was flown to the hospital on a Blackhawk helicopter (there was a large number of military aircraft at the show), but died en route.

A sad day.

I wonder why they don’t bring the fire equipment out like they bring ambulances out for football games. Just in case…

Because they already have fire and rescue on the field.

Fire and rescue: ARFF index C

Allen

I think the question is, why don’t they have equipment staged near the flight line for the show. Had this been the case, they would have reached the aircraft before it burst into flames. I don’t know that this would have made a difference as he hit the ground hard - I will wait to hear what the investigation determines. If he died as a result of trauma, it would have made no difference- if he died as a result of burns, then it made all the difference. The fire department is getting a lot of criticism for response time. I think the time was good considering they were coming from the fire house - but if a truck had been positioned at the flightline for the show, it would have been a couple minutes quicker.

X-TEAM ](http://www.shanaberger.com/airteams/xteam.htm) Jim LeRoy was a member of the X-Team who sadly while performing at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan on July 10 2005, two aircraft had a midair. Both pilots Jimmy Franklin and Bobby Younkin were killed, and Jim LeRoy landed safely.
FAA factual report](Page not found)Jimmy Franklin Bio ](Jimmy Franklin - Wikipedia)
N2369Q ](Aviation Photo Search | Airliners.net) Jimmy Franklin’s Waco UPF-7 in photo’s
N985PW](Wolf Samson - Untitled | Aviation Photo #0784864 | Airliners.net) Bobby Younkin’s Wolf Wolf-Samson photo.

Accident Report](http://www.tsb.gc.ca/en/reports/air/2005/a05c0123/a05c0123.pdf)Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

News Update ](http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070729/NEWS/307290015) Associated Press, Jim LeRoy died on impact.

“LeRoy died of injuries to the cervical spine and torso, Betz said. Although there are no indications of alcohol or drug use, the coroners office will conduct routine toxicology tests, Betz said.”