Ruling Cites Air Show Smoke As Contributing Factor

The National Transportation Safety Board presented its findings this week on the tragic fatal crash of airshow performer Jim LeRoy at the Dayton Vectren Airshow on July 28, 2007.

The NTSB concluded that LeRoy's failure to maintain ground clearance during maneuvers as the primary cause. Restricted visibility from the smoke in the air from the performance was cited as a contributing factor. Since winds were reported as light during the time of the crash, much of the smoke had not cleared from previous passes during the two-aircraft routine paired with pilot Skip Stewart.

A news reporter quoted in the NTSB report stated witnessing LeRoy perform several low level rolls at the conclusion of a loop then impact the ground. The aircraft skidded to a stop in an upright attitude and became enveloped in flames shortly after.

An examination of LeRoy's 400-horsepower, single-seat biplane, modified from a stock Pitts S2S aircraft, found no indication of problems that would have affected its operation, the NTSB said through the Dayton Daily News.

An autopsy showed that LeRoy, 46, succumbed immediately from injuries resulting from the 200 mph impact. Toxicology examination showed only Ibuprofen, a common pain reliever, present in his blood system at the time of the accident.

As ANN reported, Jim Leroy (shown below) awed air show crowds in his "Bulldog" Pitts biplane, in high-energy routines. A former marine scout sniper, Leroy toured the country in a motor home between air shows, hauling his airplane on a trailer. He won the 2002 Art Scholl Showmanship Award and the 2003 Bill Barber Award for Showmanship -- one of 11 performers to receive both honors.

Leroy was the last surviving pilot of the "Masters of Disaster," an airshow act that combined three performers, two jet trucks and pyrotechnics. Team members Bobby Younkin and Jimmy Franklin were killed two years prior in a midair collision during an airshow performance in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

FMI: Read The NTSB Probable Cause Report