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California Air Show Cancelled After Pilot Dies in Crash

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Pilot Eddie Andreini flies his Boeing Stearman over the crowd at Vandenberg Airforce Base, Calif., on Oct. 30, 2004, during the Western Air and Space Show.
Pilot Eddie Andreini flies his Boeing Stearman over the crowd at Vandenberg Airforce Base, Calif., on Oct. 30, 2004, during the Western Air and Space Show.Aaron Lambert—Santa Maria Times/AP
By Charlotte Alter

A vintage airplane crashed during an air show in California on Sunday, killing the septuagenarian pilot and causing officials to cancel the rest of the show.

Eddie Andreini, 77, was killed when his PT-17 biplane crashed during the “Thunder over Solano” Air Expo at about 2 p.m. on Sunday, Travis Air Force Base said on its website. A base spokesman told Reuters that Andreini was doing an acrobatic maneuver before the crash. It wasn’t immediately clear whether anyone else was on board.

Andreini had been flying since he was a teenager, and had been performing in air shows for the last 25 years, Col. David Mott told CNN. He also said the plane was upside down when it hit the ground.

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Write to Charlotte Alter at charlotte.alter@time.com