Pilot who died in crash escaped from Bulgaria

Thursday, April 8, 1999 | 11:21 a.m.

The helicopter pilot who died in a crash near Indian Springs last weekend made a daring escape from Communist Bulgaria in 1985, leaving behind his parents and an older brother in his bid for freedom.

According to reports today from the newspaper 24 Hours, published in Sophia, Bulgaria, the real name of the pilot who called himself James Bond Jr., was Bojan Grigorov.

After fleeing Bulgaria in a stolen helicopter, the Soviet-trained pilot went to Greece and then to the United States. He had not spoken to family members since leaving his homeland four years before the collapse of communism.

After making his way to the United States, Grigorov adopted the name of the daring fictional spy, James Bond.

James Bond Jr., 42, had been a pilot for Flight for Life, operated by Valley Hospital Medical Center, just under a year when he and two nurses were killed in a crash Saturday sometime between 11 p.m. and midnight.

Reports that he was trying to turn around to return to Las Vegas when he encountered bad weather in Indian Springs were described today as "speculative" by Metro Aviation President Mike Stanberry.

Services for Kathy Batterman, 44, were being held at 2 p.m. today at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, 5825 Eldora St.

Nurse Leroy Shelton, 37, was to be cremated at Desert Memorial Cremation and Burial Society and returned to his Topeka, Kan., hometown.

Bulgarian reporter Kapka Tatavorva said Bond's brother, Jordan Grigorov, 46, has been in touch with officials in Las Vegas and that the pilot will be buried here because of the expense of returning the body to Bulgaria.

Stansberry said he has spoken with Grigorov, and they are trying to confirm that Bond is Grigorov's brother.

"(Jordan) did speak very much," Tatavorva said. "He just said, 'How could he not call after 1989,' " when communism fell.

Grigorov was concerned about telling his elderly parents their youngest son had been killed.

"He was worried about his parents. They are old and sick, and now he must tell them their son is dead," Tatavorva said.

Grigorov, also a pilot, may have suffered some repercussions because of Bond's "scandalous" escape.

"(Jordan) was a military pilot in the army. My colleagues believe maybe he became a big military pilot, but with this immigration, it was over for him," Tatavorva said. "He told me he was interrogated for one week. But he really didn't know anything, so there was no problem after that."

Except that Grigorov's military career was over.

He left the army and is now a private pilot for Chemus Air.

Tatavorva said Bond was an agricultural pilot when he took a helicopter and flew to Greece.