GATESVILLE (March 4, 2010)—The preliminary results of an autopsy preformed on retired Army Capt. James Elbert Price, Jr., 66, of Copperas Cove don’t shed any light on whether Price suffered a heart attack before the fiery crash of his single-engine plane Saturday in Coryell County.

Price died just after 9 a.m. Saturday when his plane crashed in a field and exploded into flames on County Road 132 about 7.5 miles southwest of Gatesville.

The preliminary autopsy shows that Price died of blunt force trauma and multiple injuries suffered in the crash, said Coryell County Justice of the Peace Jimmy Wood.

Witnesses said the plane was flying low before it crashed and said it appeared the pilot was experiencing problems.

Geri Herrington and her husband live at a house on the property where the plane crashed.

She told News 10 she heard the airplane fly over her house at a very low altitude and watched as it looped and rolled in the sky.

She said she went inside with her daughter and three grandchildren to call the local airport to report the pilot, but before she could make the phone call her husband told her to call 911 because the plane had gone down some 1,000 yards south of the home.

Another witness told News 10 he thought the pilot experienced some kind of trouble with the airplane because he watched as the plane banked sharply left and descended rapidly, then hit the ground.

The second witness said the plane had lost all power before it hit the ground.

The plane was a Piper Cherokee PA-28-140 that was manufactured in 1966, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.