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1 dead in biplane crash at metro Atlanta air show

Posted at 4:34 PM, May 14, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-14 18:34:34-04

By Ralph Ellis

CNN

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — One person — the pilot — was killed Saturday afternoon when a biplane crashed during an air show at a metropolitan Atlanta airport, DeKalb County public information officer Shiera Campbell said.

The biplane and another aircraft were performing stunts in tandem during the next-to-last performance of the day at the Good Neighbor Day Open House Airshow at DeKalb Peachtree Airport, said CNN Digital News writer Melissa Gray, who attended the show with her family and witnessed the crash.

“They had just crossed in the sky and were about to cross each other close to the ground when the blue plane, having reached the lowest point of the loop, simply went into the grassy median between the two runways,” Gray said. “It immediately split apart, with the front of the plane rolling a few times in a fireball.”

Fire trucks immediately responded and put out the fire, Gray said. The announcer said the show in Chamblee was over and the crowd left.

“It happened directly in front of the crowd,” she said. “There were no gasps from the crowd. It was if everybody could not believe what they had just seen.”

Campbell said the name of the pilot is not being released until next of kin are notified.

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