Air show crash scene reflects violence of impact
RENO, Nev. — The scene of a Reno air race crash that killed nine people reveals the violence of the plane's missile-like impact — a crater in the tarmac roughly 3 feet deep and 8 feet across with debris spread out over more than an acre.
From a tour of the site, it appeared that the 1940s-model plane went straight down in the first few rows of VIP box seats, based on the crater's location.
The plane hit about 65 feet in front of the leading edge of the grandstand where thousands were watching Friday as the planes sped by just a few hundred feet above the ground.
Some members of the crowd have reported noticing a strange gurgling engine noise from above before the P-51 Mustang, dubbed The Galloping Ghost, pitched violently upward, twirled and took an immediate nosedive into the crowd.
The plane, flown by a 74-year-old veteran racer and Hollywood stunt pilot, disintegrated in a ball of dust, debris and bodies as screams of “Oh my God!” spread through the crowd.
The death toll rose to nine Saturday as investigators determined that several onlookers were killed on impact as the plane appeared to lose a piece of its tail before slamming like a missile into the crowded tarmac.
Noah Joraanstad, 25, said he watched in horror as the vintage plane came hurtling toward where he was sitting in the VIP section. He started running, then was blown off his feet.
Flying shrapnel hit his in back, barely missing his spine and kidney. He had nine stitches in his head and was covered in aviation fuel that burned his skin as spectators tried to wash it off.
When he looked around, the plane was just gone.
“The biggest pieces I could see, it looked like just someone sprinkled Legos in every direction,” Joraanstad told The Associated Press from his bed at Northern Nevada Medical Center.
Ed Larson, 59, who lives part-time in Genoa, Nev., and part-time in San Diego, saw the plane coming and ran. He was hit on the back of the head by debris and one of his Achilles tendons was cut. His calf was shredded and his shoulder separated.
“It was just surrealistic to see something like that,” Larson said.
The crash killed the pilot, Jimmy Leeward, and eight spectators. So far, two have been identified. Michael Wogan, 22, of Scottsdale, Ariz., had muscular dystrophy and was in a wheelchair the VIP section when the plane crashed, the family said Saturday. The Washoe County, Nev., medical examiner identified the other victim as Greg Morcom of Washington state, a first-time spectator at the show, according to KOMO-TV.
Officials said 69 people were treated at hospitals, including 46 who have been released and 31 who remain there. Six were in critical condition Sunday morning.
Doctors who treated the injured said it was among the most severe situations they had ever seen because of the large number of people wounded, including at least two children younger than 18 who are not among those in critical condition. Injuries included major head wounds, facial trauma and limb injuries, including amputations, doctors said.
Ambulances rushed to the scene, and officials said fans did an amazing job in tending to the injured. Just that morning, the 25 emergency workers at the air show had done a drill for such a large-scale emergency like this.
“We run through what we do in the event of an incident,” said Kevin Romero, director of the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority. “We walked through how to respond, where the multi-casualty incident bus is and what is on the bus (by way of equipment), how to set up the treatment zones and how to triage.”
National Transportation Safety Board officials were on the scene Sunday 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. Witnesses who looked at photos of the part said it appeared to be an “elevator trim tab,” which helps pilots keep control of the aircraft.
Reno police also provided a GPS mapping system to help investigators recreate the crash scene.
Questions were raised, too, about modifications to the plane made to make the plane more aerodynamic so it would go faster without a bigger engine. In a podcast uploaded to YouTube in June, Leeward said major changes were made to the plane before this year's race. He said his crew cut five feet off each wing and shortened the ailerons — the back edge of the main wings used to control balance — to 32 inches, down from about 60 inches.
“I know the speed. I know it'll do the speed. The systems aren't proven yet. We think they're going to be OK,” Leeward said.
The Mustang that disintegrated into the crowd had minor crashes almost exactly 40 years ago after its engine failed. According to two websites that track P-51s that are still flying, it made a belly landing away from the Reno airport. The NTSB report on the Sept. 18, 1970, incident says the engine failed during an air race and it crash landed short of the runway.
P-51 historian Dick Phillips of Burnsville, Minn., said Saturday the plane had had several new engines since then as well as a new canopy and other modifications.
Some credit the pilot with preventing the crash from being far more deadly by avoiding the grandstand section with a last-minute climb, although it's impossible at this point to know his thinking as he was confronted with the disaster and had just seconds to respond.
Investigators also said they'll be looking at the health of Leeward. Friends say the owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team was in excellent health.
His website says he has flown more than 120 races and served as a stunt pilot for numerous movies, including “Amelia” and “The Tuskegee Airmen.”
The National Championship Air Races draw thousands of people to Reno every September to watch various military and civilian planes race. Local schools often hold field trips there, and a local sports book took wagers on the outcomes.
It is the only air race of its kind in the United States. Planes at the yearly event fly wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet off the ground at speeds sometimes surpassing 500 mph. Pilots follow an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration and air race organizers spend months preparing for air races as they develop a plan involving pilot qualification, training and testing along with a layout for the course. The FAA inspects pilots' practice runs and briefs pilots on the route maneuvers and emergency procedures.
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 disaster prompted renewed calls for race organizers to consider ending the event because of the dangers. Officials said they would look at everything as they work to understand what happened.
Another crash, on Saturday, came at an airshow in Martinsburg, W. Va., when a post-World War II plane, a T-28, crashed and burst into flames. The pilot was killed.