Clarence "Clancy" Speal, one of Pennsylvania's top aerobatic fliers and stunt pilots, was killed Sunday, the final night of the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta. The left wings on his biplane buckled during one of the festival's many air shows, plummeting Speal's wood-and-canvas Pitts Special airplane into the Ohio River. Spectators by the thousands gaped as they watched it plunge in a spiral motion into the river a few hundred yards off Point State Park at 6:34 p.m.
In Search Of
Later that evening, divers had been unable to recover Speal's body or many parts of the patriotically red, white and blue-colored biplane. Emergency crews reported shortly after the crash that the plane disinegrated on impact. It was Tuesday morning when the divers had found some of the wreakage, along with Speal's body.Remembering "Clancy"
Colleagues have often said that Speal, 43, of New Alexandria, was both meticulous and daring, executing complicated airplane maneuvers with technical precision. One of his finest accomplishments was being the first pilot to perform the "serrated knife edge", which calls for the plane's wings to become perpendicular to the ground while the pilot wags the plane's tail.A Terrible Tragedy Ends A Summer Success
Up until the catastrophe, thousands of Pittsburgh residents and visiting out-of-towners, enjoyed the events of the yearly festival. Music, food, and entertainment were among the delights feasted upon by the Regatta-goers. Laser Light shows and concerts at the Point were in abundance; this year highlighted pop sensations Tony Rich (whose melancholy ballad "Nobody Knows" swooned listeners by the hundreds) and Lisa Loeb (armed with her hit single from two summers ago, "Stay"). It is very unfortunate that such a horrible disaster could serve as the finale to what would have been one of the "best Regattas ever".Visit the OnTV Bulletin Archive.
