LE BOURGET, France, June 3—A new United States Air‐Force A‐10 jet crashed today; killing the pilot, during manuevers on the opening day of the Air and Space Show here.

The plane, built by Fairchild Industries, was being demonstrated by Fairchild's chief test pilot, Howard W. Nelson, who had flown 500 hours in A‐10's since 1972.

He was performing a loop over the runway, in view of his wife and thousands of spectators, when the tail section hit the ground. Nobody else was injured.

Later, the agency that operates the air show, Groupement des Industries Fran. caises Aeronautiques et Spatiales issued a statement saying that the loop was “too close.” A Fairchild spokesman declined to comment, saying that an Air Force board would be set up to investigate the crash.

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