RENO Air Race crash !

[STEELINOX]

Veteran racer, Jimmy Leeward, crashed heavy metal unlimited warbird, "Galloping Ghost" into a crowd of spectators sitting in pricey box seating today.

I'm certain those that perished didnt feel a thing as the racer smacked the earth at 500 mph.

The story continues to unfold...

RIP to those lost in the tragedy...

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news..._205384-1.html

[blackmsport]

Rip terrible events

[Mosco]

Awful...

[perpetualman88]

an absolute tragedy

[jatco]

/\ .. devestating...

[Ultraman]

Terrible news.

[STEELINOX]

Death toll is now nine.

It looks like from some new imagery, that the trim control for the horizontal stabilizer had come unhinged, creating the disaster...

[dalip]

An awful tragedy....Thoughts are with all affected by this sad event.

[sleddog]

Originally Posted by STEELINOX

Death toll is now nine.

It looks like from some new imagery, that the trim control for the horizontal stabilizer had come unhinged, creating the disaster...

Almost definitive as of the cause Randy.. I saw the same report!
Unfortunately, I think these air shows are going to be a thing of the past.
So many fatal accidents as of late.....
These pilots accept the risk, but when spectators become part of the risk, it's a tough pill to swallow.
So lucky more weren' killed.
This was a terrible thing to happen, and I feel for those who have loved ones lost.

[z32turbo]

So sad!!

[Letsgodiving]

There is talk about the safety of these events and tragic episodes like this bring it to the forefront but I hope there isn't an over-reaction. There is risk in many things in life and being killed/injured by a plane in an event such as this is near the bottom of things to worry about. I'm planning to attend the Oceanic Air Show next weekend and my safety is the last thing on my mind.

Nevertheless it is sad to see this occur and my thoughts are with those affected.

[Kevin B]

That sucks, not only the loss of life but the loss of a vintage aircraft. Not that I'm a professional or that any one cares what I think, but in the short clips I have seen it looks like the trim tab may have started the problem but I don't think it was the only problem. From the videos I have seen on the news and the one posted here it looks like the high bank angle and tight turn may have caused the plane to become "loose" in the turn and the pilot may have come off the elevator a little allowing the the wings to bank even more with the rudder input. It looks like the plane actually gets inverted at one point but is still under control albeit heading to wards the ground. At that point it looks like the pilot pulls the nose up hard causing a high speed stall and loosing control. This may suck to say, and we may never know, but at one point when the plane is inverted had he pushed the stick forward he may have been able to recover, climbing out inverted. I say that because I did the same thing when I was learning aerobatics but fortunately I was at 8000ft. Your gut reaction is to pull up. The quick thinking it takes to fly at those speeds and at that altitude I never acquired, but I did learn how to recover from unusual attitudes................at altitude. My heart goes out to the loved ones of those lost and injured.

[mtrunner]

Such a terrible tragedy. The death toll is up to 10 now. There was another crash at an airshow in West Virginia. The pilot was killed in this crash as well.

http://morningjournal.com/articles/2...c231652358.txt

[eric23]

Terrible Tragedy!

[sierra11b]

As I recall from my Dad that used to go to the Reno air races when he was younger is that crashes have happened before.

I love attending air shows but am always reluctant and cautious about the real dangers of attending them...

RIP to all involved.

[STEELINOX]

I wonder if they'll raise the course altitude minimum and make racers have these too...