A vintage fighter plane taking part in the Celebrate Freedom Festival air show crashed about 75 yards away from homes in a southeast Columbia neighborhood near Owens Field on Sunday afternoon, killing its veteran pilot.

Officials believe that the pilot, Joe Tobul, 68, might have averted a major disaster when he made an abrupt right turn out of formation to avoid the residential area. The plane cut a path about 50 to 75 yards through trees and left a trail of debris before crashing into a marshy field.

Witnesses said they saw smoke coming from the World War II-era Chance-Vought F4U-4 Corsair plane before it crashed at 12:45 p.m., leading officials to believe engine failure brought it down. Radio communication from the cockpit indicated the plane lost power.

David Givens, 41, of Johnston, was watching from the edge of the runway at Owens Field. He said Tobul turned to the left, as though he would try to land on the runway, but then turned back to the right.

"He got about a mile from the runway, and I guess he decided he couldn't make it," Givens said. "You could tell he intentionally tried to keep from hitting anything. He lost a good bit of speed on that first turn."

Field officers from the Federal Aviation Administration were investigating the accident Sunday night. The FAA will transport the plane to the National Transportation Safety Board's office in Griffin, Ga., this week, an NTSB spokesman said. Preliminary findings will begin appearing on the agency's Web site this week, but a conclusion on the crash's cause will not be available for at least a year, he said.

Greg Burke, 41, superintendent of the Hampton Crest subdivision, was one of the first people at the scene. He said he was in a tree about a quarter mile from the crash site watching as planes from the air show flew low above the neighborhood.

"That maneuver all the planes were doing was not that high above the tree lines," he said.

Burke said he saw a piece of debris falling, and seconds later, he heard the crash and felt the ground vibrate from the impact.

The plane crashed about 75 yards south of two homes at 159 and 162 Wood Ridge Lane, and about 1½ miles southeast of Owens Field.

Burke raced with some other people from the neighborhood to the crash site and saw the fuel catch on fire, spewing flames and smoke about 30 feet into the air.

They searched the site, looking to see if there was anyone they could help until the first emergency vehicles showed up about five minutes later.

Chief John Jansen of the Columbia Fire Department said the landscape made containing the fire difficult. Firefighters had to wade in chest-high water and bring in a foam truck to extinguish the burning fuel. About 40 firefighters were on the scene at one point, Jansen said. The fire was extinguished by 1:30 p.m.

After the fire was out, firefighters and Emergency Medical Service personnel recovered Tobul's body from the wreckage.

Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said Tobul was dead at the scene. An autopsy will be performed today.

Ken Breivik, spokesman for the Celebrate Freedom Foundation, said the five planes were heading to the Dorn VA Medical Center for a flyover. Tobul's son, Jim, and two grandsons were piloting three of the other planes in the formation and witnessed the crash.

Richard Adams, 51, who was at the air show with his wife, said it looked like something was wrong with the plane as it passed over.

"It didn't look normal when it went by," Adams said.

"The plane flew over for the last time (and) he peeled off to the right. He was acting like he was shot or something. It was trailing smoke when it went by.

"I saw the other planes. They were spiraling tight right over the top over the trees. I just figured that's where one went down."

Airport officials said they did not end the festival because of the traffic and safety concerns associated with evacuating the tens of thousands of onlookers.

At Owens Field, there was no panic, only concern as people stopped in their tracks to point and stare at the billowing dark gray smoke coming from just beyond a stand of trees southeast of the airfield.

Murmurs of "it was the Corsair" rippled through the crowd as onlookers tried to figure out what had happened.

An impromptu prayer circle formed between two World War II-era fighter planes. About two dozen men, women and young children held hands, bowed their heads and prayed for the safety of those on the airplane, as well as anyone who might have been nearby on the ground.

But the show went on, both in the air and on the ground.

Vintage aircraft continued to take off, circle and buzz the airstrip, thrilling the still-attentive crowds.

The air show had been attracting the largest crowds at the three-day Celebrate Freedom Festival, which began Friday.

Tobul, a former Marine Corps pilot, purchased the plane he was flying in 1981 and guided it through a 10-year restoration before it took its first flight in 1991. The plane, first built in 1945, suffered serious damage after the restoration when it ran off the end of a runway. It rejoined the air show circuit in 1999.

Officials said the plane appeared to be in good condition Sunday before the crash.

The crash was the 14th at Owens Field since 1972.

Before Sunday, seven Chance Vought F4U model planes like Tobul's had crashed since 1984, including one fatal crash in Chula Vista, Calif., in 1987 that killed two people.