Investigators Seek Clues to Fatal Air Show Crash

Investigators on Monday began to survey the wreckage and collect as many as 10 amateur and professional videotapes of Sunday’s fiery fatal crash at the El Toro Air Show, but said it may be several months before they know the cause.

James A. Gregory, 40, the Florida stunt pilot killed while attempting a loop in front of a crowd of 500,000, was found out of his seat after the crash, said Gary Mucho, regional director of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the accident along with the Federal Aviation Administration.

It was unclear, Mucho said, if Gregory had tried to eject himself from his dark blue F-86 Sabre jet as the aircraft failed to complete a 360-degree loop.

The remains of the F-86 were gathered Monday in a hangar at El Toro, where the investigators will try to piece together the wreckage. The cockpit sat on one platform, the tail on another, and the wings and piles of debris were nearby on the floor.

As part of the investigation into the crash, Mucho said, there will be drug tests on the body, background checks on the pilot and the plane, an analysis of wind conditions and close inspection of videos “from every angle.”

Gregory, who flew his first solo flight on his 16th birthday and would have turned 41 today, was a gregarious entrepreneur who loved sports, adventure and risk, friends and family members said Monday.

After a career in aviation, the Navy veteran bought five Taco Bell restaurants, and filled his days with sport fishing and aerobatics.

“He died doing what he loved to do,” said his wife of 10 years, Beth Gregory, from her parents’ home in North Carolina. “That’s how he enjoyed life, living on the edge. It was a thrill for him.”

Added his mother, Marie Gregory: “The only consolation is that he was doing what he enjoyed.”

Gregory will be buried this weekend in Flint, Mich. His death Sunday was the third fatal accident in the 43-year history of the El Toro Air Show.

“When a plane goes down, it’s something that is kind of shocking, but . . . you’d have to say that the safety factor is pretty high,” said Orange County Supervisor Thomas Riley.

The eldest of four children, Gregory was born in Flint, and began building model airplanes at age 12. He got his pilot’s license at 15, the youngest age allowed. Since the birth of his 5-year-old daughter, Laura, he has often flown--loops and all--with her on his lap, his wife said.

“He just loved the speed,” said his father, Ernest Gregory, who taught James Gregory how to fly. “He loved airplanes.”

In addition to the Korean War-era fighter in which he died, Gregory owned a Lockheed PV-1, a classic twin-engine Beech 18 and a two-seat Kitfox he built in his garage.