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Words from Kyle Franklin and Jim LeRoy

July 11, 2005 - 19:18

Son of pilot who died in Sask air show crash doesn't know what happened
TIM COOK

MOOSE JAW, Sask. (CP) - While investigators tried Monday to determine what caused a fiery collision at a weekend air show, the two pilots killed in the crash were remembered as top-notch performers who dedicated their lives to pushing the limits.

"This is a dangerous business - what we do - and my dad went out doing what he loved," said Kyle Franklin, a fellow performer who watched from the ground as his father, Jimmy Franklin, died in the crash.

"Air shows is all he has ever known and all I've known . . . It's what I love. I have no intentions of really getting out of the air show business. It's in my blood."

The Franklins were members of the U.S.-based X-Team Masters of Disaster, a civilian areobatic act considered one of the most sought-after in the air show industry.

Jimmy Franklin and fellow pilot Bobby Younkin were killed instantly when their planes ran into one another while performing a stunt Sunday afternoon.

About 20,000 spectators watched in stunned silence as the flaming wreckage rained to the ground in front of them. No one else was injured. The show was cancelled after the accident.

It's still unclear what went wrong.

Jim LeRoy, the man who brought the X-Team together and pilot of the third plane in the air when the accident happened, said he didn't want to speculate.

"There was a collision. It wasn't supposed to happen and that is all I can say right now," LeRoy said.

"We all know the risks we take each weekend. Things went wrong yesterday and we are very saddened by that."

He said the team's shows are structured but not necessarily scripted.

"Inside of that structure there are things that happen differently in each show," LeRoy said. "And that is one of the things that made MOD as entertaining as it was, not only for the crowd, but for us as well."

The Transportation Safety Board is leading the probe into the accident. It is being aided by the Department of National Defence because the crash happened at 15 Wing Moose Jaw - the home of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds.

Peter Hildebrad, a regional manager with the board, said investigators will also check whether spectators were ever in danger.

"We certainly look for any threat to people on the ground," Hildebrad said. "So far it appears that there was not a problem in that area . . . it looks like the defences were operating in this case."

Both Jimmy Franklin and Younkin had been flying in air shows since they were teenagers and had close to 70 years of experience between them, according to information on their websites.

In 1999, Franklin became the first to add a jet engine to his 1940 Waco biplane. His flying is featured in several movies, including Terminal Velocity, The Rocketeer and Three Amigos.

"I can't call anybody the top, but if ever there was, he was probably the top air show guy in the industry," said Warren Pietsch of Pietsch Aircraft in Minot, N.D.

Kyle Franklin recalled fond memories of growing up around planes - the family lived in an apartment in an airport hangar when he was young.

He also said he was somewhat prepared for this tragedy because he can remember losing his grandfather in a plane crash years ago.

"He's my father, but he is also my best friend. He and I were very close," he recalled. "In the aviation community, Bobby and Jim both were legends and his legacy will forever live on. Both of them will."

Younkin specialized in flying a modified Learjet, a plane normally reserved for carrying passengers.

"This act would not have been what it is if you didn't have these natural born pilots," Kyle Franklin said.

LeRoy said the team will get in the air again soon. They have a performance scheduled in Ohio this weekend that they intend to make.

"There's things to take care of and those things will be taken care of and then we will move on, but we are never going to let the memory of Bobby and Jimmy escape us," LeRoy said.