Reno Air Race Crash Death Toll 9; Cause Still Unknown
The death toll from a horrific crash at Friday’s Reno air race rose to nine even as officials were trying to determine the cause of the crash Sunday morning.
While seven people died on the crowded tarmac in Reno, Nev., including the pilot, two more died in hospitals, according to Reno police. The crash also left close to 70 people injured.
Authorities previously said three people were killed and around 50 were injured when the World War II-era fighter plane crashed Friday afternoon.
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Renown Medical Center in Reno received 34 patients and six of them were in critical condition as of Saturday. Two of the six critical patients suffered major head injuries, CNN quoted Dr. Myron Gomez, chief of trauma services, as saying.
Another local hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, received 28 patients and two of them were in critical condition and seven were serious.
It is being suspected that the aircraft’s damaged elevator trim tab may have been a cause of the crash, but the full investigation may take up to nine months. It is not known if the plane had a black box.
A National Transportation Safety Board member, Mark Rosekind, who was at the site when the plane took a nosedive and crashed, has been given charge of the investigation. The large number of photos and videos available will help the investigators.
This was the first incident involving injuries and death of spectators in Reno in 40 years, according to Reno Mayor Bob Cashell. “We’ve lost some pilots, but we’ve never had a major catastrophe,” he told reporters.
The pilot, 74-year-old Jimmy Leeward, was from Ocala, Fla. His family initially scheduled a memorial for Saturday afternoon but later canceled it. The Reno Air Racing Association plans to hold a public vigil in the “near future.”
A day before the accident, Leeward, a Hollywood stunt pilot, appeared confident. “We’re as fast as anybody in the field, and maybe even faster,” he told Airshow TV in an interview. “We’ve been playing poker since last Monday, so we’re ready to show a couple more cards … we’ll see what happens.”
It is believed that the pilot saved many others from dying in the crash as he suddenly pulled up and maneuvered the P-51 Mustang away from the crowded grandstands moments before the crash.
The event, 2011 National Championship Air Races, scheduled to end Sept. 18, was canceled.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this terrible tragedy,” the National Championship Air Races said in a statement Saturday. “We race and perform for our fans and, now, we grieve for them and their families. We extend to all of them our most sincere heartfelt condolences and sympathies.”
Until Friday’s crash, the annual, five-day air race in Reno, which generates tens of millions of dollars for the local economy, had claimed the lives of 19 pilots since 1972.
Within 24 hours of the Reno air crash, the pilot of another plane died in a crash in Martinsburg, W.Va., on Saturday. It was part of the T-28 Warbird Aerobatic Formation Demonstration Team. The plane that crashed and burst into flames was also from the World War II-era.
Questions are once again being raised if such events are worth the cost of human lives.
