Pilot Lost In Air-Show Crash -- Wife Was Announcing As Plane Plunged Into River

PITTSBURGH - Thousands of people attending an air show watched as a veteran stunt pilot flying a loop lost control of the plane and went hurtling nose first into the Ohio River.

Pilot Clarence "Clancy" Speal's wife, Audrey, was announcing the show yesterday at the time of the crash. She stopped talking as he plummeted from the sky.

"She just dissolved in tears," said Don Riggs, an air-show announcer and friend.

Rescue workers planned to resume their search for the plane and pilot today. Coast Guard and river rescue workers suspended their search yesterday at nightfall.

Authorities refused to say whether they thought Speal, of New Alexandria, could have survived.

"I'm not able to be optimistic at this point," said Gene Connelly, general chairman of the Three Rivers Regatta, the boat and air festival that sponsored the stunt show.

Connelly blamed the crash on a "mechanical failure" but referred further inquiries to the Federal Aviation Administration. Calls to the FAA were not returned.

Friends described Speal as a skilled, careful pilot with 25 years of flying experience. He was the first person to crash a plane at the regatta since the event was founded 19 years ago.

Speal, who was in his 40s, was "a true professional" who had learned to fly as a boy, Riggs said.

Speal was performing for the ninth year in a row at the Regatta.

"He was doing loops, and the wings just snapped back," said witness Fran Puklavec, 31. "He went straight down."

Mark Darby, 34, said he saw a flash of light as the plane's left wings crumbled.

"You didn't really know if he was losing control or if it was part of the show," said Tony Guarino, 38.