Ohio crash victim was survivor of Moose Jaw air disaster

A stunt pilot who died after an air show crash in Ohio on the weekend was also in the air in Moose Jaw two years ago when a biplane collision killed two men.

Jim LeRoy, 46, was in one of two planes making loops with smoke trailing as part of the annual air show at Dayton International Airport on Saturday.

He died when his Pitts aircraft slammed into the runway across a field from spectators and caught fire.

On July 10, 2005, LeRoy was the third pilot in the X-Team's Masters of Disaster, a U.S.-based civilian aerobatics team that had been simulating a First World War dogfight at the Saskatchewan Air Show in Moose Jaw.

Two of the planes collided and their pilots, Jimmy Franklin and Bobby Younkin, were killed as thousands of shocked spectators watched.

LeRoy, in the third biplane, didn't collide and landed his plane safely.

LeRoy later said Franklin and Younkin would not want him to stop performing in air shows.

"We will honour their memory by continuing to do what we do," he said in 2005.

After the crash Saturday, LeRoy died en route to Miami Valley Hospital, officials said. The cause of the crash was being investigated.

LeRoy, a marine veteran who had a degree in aeronautical engineering, was a design engineer with GE Aircraft Engines until he became a full-time stunt pilot in 1997.