Pilot in W.Va. crash was Air Force vet

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- The pilot of a post-World War II plane that crashed during an air show Saturday was a decorated Air Force pilot and instructor, a successful businessman and a passionate airman who stressed safety first and foremost, friends and family said yesterday.

John "Jack" Mangan, 54, of Concord, N.C., died in the crash during a show by the T-28 Warbird Aerobatic Formation Demonstration Team. His plane burst into flames before hundreds of stunned spectators at the Martinsburg air show. He had flown with the demonstration team for five years.

A preliminary accident report is expected soon, said Jim Peters, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA was assisting the NTSB by checking Mangan's pilot records, medical certification and any documents related to the T-28.

The Journal of Martinsburg reported the aircraft lost control during a six-plane stunt formation and crashed on a runway. No one else was injured when the T-28 wobbled and crashed, authorities said. Many in the crowd wept after seeing the aircraft appear to disintegrate in a fireball.

Mangan, a retired Air Force officer who graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, left a wife, Kathy, and three children. He was the president of RMG, a Kingsport, Tenn., company with a chain of more than 80 fast-food restaurants in Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. -- AP