Air-show crash in Dayton kills two


Air-show crash in Dayton kills two

DAYTON, Ohio

A plane carrying a wing walker crashed today at an air show and exploded into flames, killing the pilot and stunt walker instantly, authorities said.

Dayton International Airport spokeswoman Linda Hughes and Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Anne Ralston confirmed the deaths to The Associated Press.

The crash happened at around 12:45 p.m. at the Vectren Air Show at the Dayton airport. No spectators were injured.

The show has been canceled for the remainder of the day, but organizers said events would resume Sunday. The names of those killed weren’t immediately released, but a video posted on WHIO-TV showing the flight and crash identified the performer as wing walker Jane Wicker. A schedule posted on the event’s website also had Wicker scheduled to perform.

The video shows the plane turn upside-down as Wicker sits on top of the wing. The plane then tilts and crashes to the ground, exploding into flames as spectators scream.

“All of a sudden I heard screaming and looked up and there was a fireball,” spectator Stan Thayer of Wilmington, Ohio, told WHIO.

Another spectator, Shawn Warwick of New Knoxville, told the Dayton Daily News that he was watching the flight through binoculars.