Pilots Die In Two Air Show Crashes

Authorities were to resume searching Monday for a pilot missing since two small planes collided over the Delaware Bay as they practiced aerobatic stunts.

The wreckage of one plane and the body of its pilot, Jay Blum, 39, of Berwyn, Pa., were pulled from the waters just off Cape Henlopen State Park shortly after the accident Sunday.

The search for the other pilot was called off Sunday evening because of poor underwater visibility and rapid currents that made conditions difficult for divers. The search was to resume about 10:30 a.m. Monday.

Meanwhile, two small biplanes simulating a World War I dogfight collided at an air show in central Canada, killing both pilots instantly.

Searchers believe the plane is just off a breakwater in Delaware Bay water ranging from about 15 to 50 feet deep. Crews from the Delaware State Police and local fire companies will resume looking for the wreckage about 10:30 a.m., said state police spokesman Lt. Joseph Aviola.

"The pilot is possibly still with the plane," Aviola said.

Blum's plane, a Rutan Long EZ, is registered to ACE Aero LLC of Bryn Mawr, Pa., The other, a Vans RV8, is registered to Ralph D. Morgan of Rehoboth Beach, said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board sent investigators to the crash site. The Coast Guard sent rescue boats from Indian River, Del., and Cape May, N.J., and a rescue helicopter from Atlantic City.

Authorities said six experimental planes from a group called The Vultures had just completed a maneuver called Six Ship Opposing and had broken off into separate groups of three when two planes in one group collided, sending both plunging into the bay.

A seventh plane, acting as a "spotter," was flying separately from the others, police said.

Dale Byers, 62, and his wife Nancy, 60, of Cape May, N.J., witnessed the collision while riding the ferry to Lewes with their grandson Matt Colagreco, 15.

"We thought, oh, we're going to get a free air show," said Byers, recalling how the mood aboard the ferry changed in an instant when the two planes collided.

"It just made me sick to my stomach," he said.

Colagreco said one plane, which he described as an ultralight, an apparent reference to Blum's unconventionally designed aircraft, banked right and into the path of the plane next to it.

"The ultralight was actually spinning out of control," Colagreco said. "It was flopping out of control."

The second plane turned over and nose-dived into the water, he said.

"It was just like two toy planes hitting," Nancy Byers said.

Part of the wreckage of Blum's plane was pulled up on the Cape Henlopen shore. Searchers also gathered dozens of pieces of flotsam, including part of wing, a wheel, foam insulation, wiring, a helmet, and a pair of brown shoes.

Divers from the state police and local fire and police agencies searched the murky waters surrounding the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal for several hours but were unable to locate the aircraft registered to Morgan.

"The current is killing them," said Capt. Robert Hawkins, a state police troop commander and head of the agency's diving team.

Cape Henlopen is home to Fort Miles, which was built after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and became the linchpin for the country's Atlantic Coast defense.

The pilots, Bobby Younkin of Springdale, Ark., and Jimmy Franklin, of Neosho, Mo., were members of the U.S.-based Masters of Disaster civilian aerobatics team. A third plane involved in the dogfight simulation landed safely.

Witnesses to Sunday's crash said one plane came from beneath and collided with the second craft. Both burst into flames and crashed. No spectators were hurt, but the air show in Moose Jaw, about 120 miles north of the Montana border, was immediately canceled.

Clive Tolley, executive director of the air show, said Canada's Transport Safety Board would arrive Monday to investigate the crash.

"It was a civilian performance that has been practiced many, many times and done in a safe manner many, many times," Tolley said.

Some relatives of the dead pilots were at the air show and were taken to a nearby military base while officials tried to notify family members in the United States.

Franklin's son, Kyle, was in the announcer's booth describing the show when the accident occurred.