William Dey,30, was a 1988 Peddie School graduate
By:Staff
WILLOW GROVE, Pa. — William Dey, 30, grandson of Mary Dey Laird of Hightstown and 1988 graduate of the Peddie School, was killed Sunday when an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet he was piloting crashed during an sir show at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station.
Lt. Dey grew up in Hightstown with his parents, William and Catherine Dey. After graduating from the naval Academy, he had married and moved to Virginia Beach, Va.
According to press reports, Lt. Dey and Lieutenant Dan Bergstrom, 31, were flying the plane when it suddenly lost control and crashed in a wooded area about 100 yards from the base at about 4:43 p.m. The plane contained only one pilot and one radar intercept officer and at this time it is not clear whether Lt. Dey was flying the aircraft.
The reports said no one on the ground was injured as 100,000 people watched the Willow Grove 2000 Sounds of Freedom air show. The crew was about halfway through its 30-minute performance when the fighter plane crashed.
One witness to the crash said the Tomcat was displaying a “wave-off” maneuver, which involves coming in at a slow speed to simulate a landing attempt on an aircraft carrier, being waved-off, and then circling for another landing attempt. After being waved-off, the plane approached the wooded area at a very slow speed, tilted on its side, and crashed.
The Tomcat performance was apparently the second-to-last of the show, according to reporters at "The Intelligencer" of Doylestown. The same routine was performed at the show on Saturday and at a practice session on Friday.