**MASS CASUALTY SITUATION - 3 CONFIRMED DEAD INCL. PILOT
**
Just Breaking: P51 taking part in Reno National Air Race crashed near the reviewing stand. Reports of casualties Details still sketchy.
Youtube video: (caution graphic) YouTube NEW video from a different perspective (includes profanity) UPDATE 1UPDATE 2UPDATE 3UPDATE 4UPDATE 5 12 KilledUPDATE 6UPDATE 7WARNING THIS IS RAW UNEDITED VIDEO THAT IS VERY DISTURBING TO WATCHUPDATE 8UPDATE 9- YouTube
I have a freind who was there and said it was an unbeleiveable site. They were within rows of the direct hit but were unscathed. She said MANY were injured right around her.
I’m sure he did what he could but had no control, that close to the ground and going that fast really leaves no room to make corrections.
It appears that he had an issue with the elevator.
I don’t know anything about the dynamics of an airplane, but elsewhere, it was posted that he was subjected to 9 G’s before the crash. At 74 years of age, he may have blacked out from that, explaining his seeming absence from the cockpit.
Just an FYI… KRTS and the Air Races were covered by LiveATC this year,as they were the previous years… clips of all ATC comms are available there if you’d like to have a listen… as others have said, it isn’t for the faint of heart…
A possible explaination for the crash. I received this from a friend:
"Here’s the theory of the crash from experienced racers.
In 1989 this type of thing happened to another pilot but he lived to tell the story. When flying a P-51 at
450+mph you need to have full nose down trim to keep the plane level. The elevator trim tab broke off and the aircraft immediately went in to a 10G climb, confirmed by the G-meter. The pilot came to, from the sudden blackout and realized he had slipped through the shoulder harness and was looking at the floor of the airplane. He was able to reach the throttle and pull it back to slow down and was able to recover and land.
In a picture from this month’s accident, you can see the P-51 upside down with a missing left elevator trim tab, and all you see is the back of the pilots head indicating he is being forced down in the cockpit. In another photo of the plane with the wings nearly level, and nose down c.80 degrees, the tail wheel has extended and there is no view of the pilot. The tail wheel is held up by hydraulics only with no mechanical uplock, thus indicating a high G-force causing it to extend. In all the pictures the pilot is bent down, head near his knees."
