ELSER METRO Pilot killed in landing at airport

The plane clipped tree tops and went out of control.
NORTH LIMA -- Dr. James Ventresco Jr., an experienced pilot, died when his Piper 250 crashed and caught fire during a landing at Youngstown Elser Metro Airport.
The 76-year-old osteopathic doctor had been doing "touch and goes" Sunday evening, said Sgt. Jeff Smith at the Ohio State Highway Patrol Canfield post. The term refers to landing, taking off and landing again.
The crash happened at 8:30 p.m. Sunday at the airport on Sharrott Road when Dr. Ventresco, of Southwoods Boulevard, Boardman, clipped tree tops as he attempted a landing and lost control, Smith said. Ventresco has more than 20 years' flying experience, the sergeant said.
Ventresco's plane burst into flames and he was dead at the scene, Smith said. No one else was in the plane.
Witnesses in nearby homes called 911.
Mike Stanko, airport manager, said he'd known Dr. Ventresco more than 20 years and, as far as he knew, Ventresco was a good pilot.
"He was a very nice individual ... a real gentleman," Stanko said. "He was a base tenant here and could come and go as he pleased."
Crash witnessed
The airport manager said the plane came down in a wooded area, near a housing development. He said a few pilots waiting for passengers saw the crash, as did neighbors.
Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were expected today at the airport.
Smith said the last fatal crash that originated at Elser happened in 1999, when a plane carrying four people left the airport and crashed nearby on Basinger Road.
In February, a plane landing at the airport hit a deer. Occupants of the aircraft were not injured.
Ventresco had an office on Tippecanoe Road.
He was a graduate of Chaney High School and Des Moines Still College of Osteopathy and Surgery.
In 1956, he was licensed to practice osteopathic medicine and surgery, according to Vindicator files. He was elected chief of staff of Youngstown Osteopathic Hospital in 1974 and president of its board of trustees in 1995.
meade@vindy.com