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Reno airshow horror as plane plummets into crowd, killing 9
Source: Agencies |
September 19, 2011, Monday
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THE World War II plane that killed at least nine people in Nevada, the United States, at the Reno National Championship Air Races crash-landed like a missile on the tarmac, coming straight down onto VIP seats.
The 1940s-model plane left a crater a meter deep by 2.4 meters wide just 20 meters from the grandstand where thousands were watching as the planes sped just a few hundred meters overhead.
The P-51 Mustang dubbed The Galloping Ghost appeared to lose a piece of its tail before the crash which killed pilot Jimmy Leeward and eight spectators.
So far, two of the spectators have been identified.
Michael Wogan, 22, of Scottsdale, Arizona, had muscular dystrophy and was in a wheelchair in the VIP section, his family said.
The other victim identified was Greg Morcom of Washington state.
Officials said 69 people were treated in hospital, including 31 who remain there. Nine were in a critical condition on Saturday night.
Doctors who treated the injured said it was among the most serious situations they had seen because of the large number of people.
"I've seen more patients, but never this many patients with this number of severe injuries," said Dr Michael Morkin, chief of the Renown Regional Medical Center's emergency department. "It was traumatic."
Injuries included major head wounds, facial trauma and limb injuries, including amputations, said Dr Myron Gomes, the center's chief trauma surgeon.
National Transportation Safety Board officials were quickly on the scene to determine what caused Leeward to lose control of the plane, and they were looking at amateur video clips that appeared to show a small piece of the aircraft falling to the ground before the crash.
Reno police also provided a GPS mapping system to help investigators recreate the crash scene.
"Pictures and video appear to show a piece of the plane was coming off," NTSB spokesman Mark Rosekind said at a news conference. "A component has been recovered. We have not identified the component or if it even came from the airplane ... we are going to focus on that."
Investigators said they also recovered part of the tail section.
One of the things investigators will be looking at is the health of Leeward, the 74-year-old pilot, who friends say was in excellent health.
The crash marked the first time spectators had been killed since the races began 47 years ago in Reno. Twenty pilots, including Leeward, have died in that time, race officials said.
The Reno air race is the only one of its kind in the US. Planes at the annual event fly wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 16 meters off the ground.
Leeward, the owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team, was a well-known racing pilot who had flown more than 120 races and was a stunt pilot for numerous movies.
The crash was the first of two airshow disasters over the weekend.
On Saturday, the pilot of a post-World War II plane, a T-28, was killed when it crashed during a display at Martinsburg, West Virginia.
John "Flash" Mangan, was a passionate flyer and Air Force veteran who always put safety first, his son said yesterday. He had flown with the T-28 Warbird Aerobatic Formation Demonstration Team, known as the Trojan Horsemen, for five years.
Thousands were watching from a distance but no one was hurt when the aircraft wobbled and crashed, authorities said. The aircraft lost control during a six-plane stunt formation.
The 1940s-model plane left a crater a meter deep by 2.4 meters wide just 20 meters from the grandstand where thousands were watching as the planes sped just a few hundred meters overhead.
The P-51 Mustang dubbed The Galloping Ghost appeared to lose a piece of its tail before the crash which killed pilot Jimmy Leeward and eight spectators.
So far, two of the spectators have been identified.
Michael Wogan, 22, of Scottsdale, Arizona, had muscular dystrophy and was in a wheelchair in the VIP section, his family said.
The other victim identified was Greg Morcom of Washington state.
Officials said 69 people were treated in hospital, including 31 who remain there. Nine were in a critical condition on Saturday night.
Doctors who treated the injured said it was among the most serious situations they had seen because of the large number of people.
"I've seen more patients, but never this many patients with this number of severe injuries," said Dr Michael Morkin, chief of the Renown Regional Medical Center's emergency department. "It was traumatic."
Injuries included major head wounds, facial trauma and limb injuries, including amputations, said Dr Myron Gomes, the center's chief trauma surgeon.
National Transportation Safety Board officials were quickly on the scene to determine what caused Leeward to lose control of the plane, and they were looking at amateur video clips that appeared to show a small piece of the aircraft falling to the ground before the crash.
Reno police also provided a GPS mapping system to help investigators recreate the crash scene.
"Pictures and video appear to show a piece of the plane was coming off," NTSB spokesman Mark Rosekind said at a news conference. "A component has been recovered. We have not identified the component or if it even came from the airplane ... we are going to focus on that."
Investigators said they also recovered part of the tail section.
One of the things investigators will be looking at is the health of Leeward, the 74-year-old pilot, who friends say was in excellent health.
The crash marked the first time spectators had been killed since the races began 47 years ago in Reno. Twenty pilots, including Leeward, have died in that time, race officials said.
The Reno air race is the only one of its kind in the US. Planes at the annual event fly wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 16 meters off the ground.
Leeward, the owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team, was a well-known racing pilot who had flown more than 120 races and was a stunt pilot for numerous movies.
The crash was the first of two airshow disasters over the weekend.
On Saturday, the pilot of a post-World War II plane, a T-28, was killed when it crashed during a display at Martinsburg, West Virginia.
John "Flash" Mangan, was a passionate flyer and Air Force veteran who always put safety first, his son said yesterday. He had flown with the T-28 Warbird Aerobatic Formation Demonstration Team, known as the Trojan Horsemen, for five years.
Thousands were watching from a distance but no one was hurt when the aircraft wobbled and crashed, authorities said. The aircraft lost control during a six-plane stunt formation.
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