Saturday - September 17, 2011

Tragedy in Reno

RENO, Nev. — At least three people are dead and more than 50 injured when a pilot lost control of a vintage World War II-era plane and crashed at an air show in Reno.

Twelve people are in critical condition, and the death toll is expected to rise, says CBS News correspondent Karen Brown.

Witnesses describe the scene as absolute carnage, reports Brown.

Thousands of fans come every year to the Reno Air Race to get the thrill of the event - like NASCAR on steroids, with planes going more than 500 miles per hour. But yesterday, thousands watched in horror when a P-51 Mustang pitched upward, rolled and plunged nose-first into the edge of the crowd of spectators.

“Boom! Right into the grandstands,” said photographer Jerry Maxwell. “I couldn’t believe it.”

The plane, flown by a 74-year-old veteran Hollywood stunt pilot, then slammed into the concrete in a section of VIP box seats and blew to pieces in front the pilot’s family and a tight-knit group of friends who attend the annual event in Reno.

Veteran airman Jimmy Leeward among dead in Reno

“It absolutely disintegrated,” said Tim O’Brien of Grass Valley Calif., who attends the races every year. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Dozens of victims lay on the tarmac. The most critically injured, were airlifted to nearby hospitals, carried on stretchers. Others, clearly wounded, walked into emergency rooms.

Pilot Jimmy Leeward of Ocala, Fla., died in the crash Friday after apparently losing control of the P-51 Mustang, which spiraled into a box seat area at the National Championship Air Races at about 4:30 p.m. Friday. Leeward and at least two others were killed; dozens were injured.

Family members were at the air show and saw the crash, said Reno Air Races President and CEO Mike Houghton.
...
Leeward’s pilot’s medical records were up-to-date, and he was “a very qualified, very experienced pilot,” Houghton said. He’d been racing at the show in Reno since 1975.
...
Maureen Higgins, of Alabama, said Leeward was the best pilot she knew. She was at the air show and said she could see his profile while the plane was going down. He was married and his wife often traveled with him.

“He’s a wonderful pilot, not a risk taker,” she said. “He was in the third lap and all of a sudden he lost control.”

Authorities say it appears a mechanical failure with the P-51 Mustang — a class of fighter plane that can fly in excess of 500 mph — was to blame. Some credit the pilot with preventing the crash from being far more deadly.

“If he wouldn’t have pulled up, he would have taken out the entire bleacher section,” said Tim Linville, 48, of Reno, who watched the race with his two daughters.

“The way I see it, if he did do something about this, he saved hundreds if not thousands of lives because he was able to veer that plane back toward the tarmac,” said Johnny Norman, who was at the show.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/17/2011 at 09:03 AM   
Filed Under: • planes, trains, tanks, ships, big machinery, and automobiles •  
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