My Senior Photographer, Craig Scaling, and I covered the Vectren Dayton air show for our
magazine. While the Masters of Disaster were performing their Mary's Lamb routine an accident
happened before our eyes. We were eating lunch in the media tent, and quite frankly, I wanted to
lose my lunch, not because of Jim Leroy's fiery crash, but because of the worst in human
behavior.
So many media wanted to get shots of a burning aircraft that they were crawling over each other.
Many were comparing notes afterwards to see who had the best photo, the best video. They
were laughing and joking, completely immune to the fact that one of the best airshow performers
in the business was fighting for his life. Some were selling their photo files to news
organizations. Some were discussing how much they could get for the photos on eBay. None of
them had an interest in Jim, just the crash and the carpetbagger profit from it.
All air shows have an emergency procedure, and at Saturday's show the media was instructed to
pack up to get a golf cart ride back to the Expo center to await a news conference. Despite
repeated requests by security personnel, many media would not leave. They were indignant and
abusive at security yelling that it was their right to cover the story. It was only when they were
threatened with bodily removal that they put their cameras down.
At the expo center the media circus continued. TV stations whisked their trucks in, laid down
their cables, and set up their cameras. Print media had steno pads and pens at the ready.
Technicians put their microphones and tape recorders on the podium. One reporter did a live
report. Other than the fact that there was an airshow crash, she did not get one fact straight.
No, her station just wanted to be the first one on the air. It was more important to beat out
everyone else with the 'story'.
The press conference began with the announcements that the remainder of Saturday's show was
canceled and that Sunday's show would go on as scheduled. It was also announced that because
Saturday's show was cut short with no Thunderbird performance, anyone with a ticket stub to
Saturday's show would be admitted for free on Sunday. This was a classy and decent thing for
the air show producers to do. Kudos.
Questions and answers followed the announcements. It was the media's turn and it became
obvious who had covered air shows before and who had not. Like the wheat from the chaff, the
respectful became separated from the sanctimonious. The mayor, Vectren personnel, and the
airport fire chief at the front of the room answered even the dumbest questions with dignity and
grace. They understood that an airshow performer lost his life, but too many of the media did
not. It was just another breaking story to cover.
For the record, we do not have one photo of the wreckage so if you are looking for that on our
website, you will not find it. Our September issue will cover Jim's life, not his death. We provide
photos of Jim's last solo performance on Saturday morning. This is how we choose to remember
Jim. And for the record, it's not important if you buy our magazine. On Saturday, July 28th, the
world lost a great pilot, a great man, a loving husband and father. That's what's most important.
If you want to help you can contribute to a scholarship fund set up for Jim's son, Tommy. You
can send your contributions to:
Jim LeRoy Jr. Memorial Fund
c/o Harris Bank
110 E. Irving Park Road
Roselle, IL 60172.
God Bless Us Everyone,
Wayne Matusiak, Publisher,
Airshow Traveler Magazine.
magazine. While the Masters of Disaster were performing their Mary's Lamb routine an accident
happened before our eyes. We were eating lunch in the media tent, and quite frankly, I wanted to
lose my lunch, not because of Jim Leroy's fiery crash, but because of the worst in human
behavior.
So many media wanted to get shots of a burning aircraft that they were crawling over each other.
Many were comparing notes afterwards to see who had the best photo, the best video. They
were laughing and joking, completely immune to the fact that one of the best airshow performers
in the business was fighting for his life. Some were selling their photo files to news
organizations. Some were discussing how much they could get for the photos on eBay. None of
them had an interest in Jim, just the crash and the carpetbagger profit from it.
All air shows have an emergency procedure, and at Saturday's show the media was instructed to
pack up to get a golf cart ride back to the Expo center to await a news conference. Despite
repeated requests by security personnel, many media would not leave. They were indignant and
abusive at security yelling that it was their right to cover the story. It was only when they were
threatened with bodily removal that they put their cameras down.
At the expo center the media circus continued. TV stations whisked their trucks in, laid down
their cables, and set up their cameras. Print media had steno pads and pens at the ready.
Technicians put their microphones and tape recorders on the podium. One reporter did a live
report. Other than the fact that there was an airshow crash, she did not get one fact straight.
No, her station just wanted to be the first one on the air. It was more important to beat out
everyone else with the 'story'.
The press conference began with the announcements that the remainder of Saturday's show was
canceled and that Sunday's show would go on as scheduled. It was also announced that because
Saturday's show was cut short with no Thunderbird performance, anyone with a ticket stub to
Saturday's show would be admitted for free on Sunday. This was a classy and decent thing for
the air show producers to do. Kudos.
Questions and answers followed the announcements. It was the media's turn and it became
obvious who had covered air shows before and who had not. Like the wheat from the chaff, the
respectful became separated from the sanctimonious. The mayor, Vectren personnel, and the
airport fire chief at the front of the room answered even the dumbest questions with dignity and
grace. They understood that an airshow performer lost his life, but too many of the media did
not. It was just another breaking story to cover.
For the record, we do not have one photo of the wreckage so if you are looking for that on our
website, you will not find it. Our September issue will cover Jim's life, not his death. We provide
photos of Jim's last solo performance on Saturday morning. This is how we choose to remember
Jim. And for the record, it's not important if you buy our magazine. On Saturday, July 28th, the
world lost a great pilot, a great man, a loving husband and father. That's what's most important.
If you want to help you can contribute to a scholarship fund set up for Jim's son, Tommy. You
can send your contributions to:
Jim LeRoy Jr. Memorial Fund
c/o Harris Bank
110 E. Irving Park Road
Roselle, IL 60172.
God Bless Us Everyone,
Wayne Matusiak, Publisher,
Airshow Traveler Magazine.
| Tribute to Jim Leroy |
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