CRASH at Reno Air Races *NOW*

This feels a little like the Joplin Tornado to me. Remember how it ripped right through a hospital?

Usually these kind of disasters narrowly miss the crowds, but this one went right into it.
Its still a miracle so few died, but at the same time, everything is getting more intense.

More "things that have never happened before" or "in the last 100 years" have been happening.

In the last year...

Originally posted by TheRiverCityAnswer
More "things that have never happened before" or "in the last 100 years" have been happening.

In the last year...

This could have been much worse. Sknyliv and Ramstein were even more horrifying. And those are relatively recent. I don't think this falls in the category of things you are talking about.

reply to post by IwasOnceHappy


No word yet. Looks like they were not among the casualties. But I am anxious to say the least. Leave it to my family to be among the few who still don't own cell phones! FYI: I am located in Grass Valley, CA. Not too far away.
Once I get full information, I will post again. Thanks for all your kind words. J

reply to post by exdog5

CRASH at Reno Air Races

My heartfelt sympathies go out to the family of the pilot and of those killed and injured on the ground.

The dream of flying has always been with us, as a species. It always shall be so.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds,
and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of
wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence.
Hov’ring there, I’ve chased the shouting wind along,
and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew
And, while with silent lifting mind I have trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

John Gillespie Magee, Jr. 1922-1941

reply to post by _Del_


way to split hairs, thanks for the input

reply to post by TheRiverCityAnswer


Apologies. I didn't mean to split hairs. I just don't think accidents really fall into the "this has never happened before" category. The frequency of earthquakes and other natural disasters do seem abnormally high to me, I just don't connect this incident the way you do, I suppose.

Originally posted by Myendica
Like I said before..

I thought a plane hitting the ground straight on at almost 500mph would cause it to not be recognizeable after the crash? how does a huge plane bury itself underground, while a small one leaves debris?

Work it out for yourself? There is no comparison. Light weight P-51 hitting concrete/tarmac compared with heavy laden Boeing 757 impacting earth. If the P-51 had impacted the ground near vertical in a field then it would have buried or partially buried itself.

See following for approximate weight of Boeing 757

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Depending on surface even an aircraft such as WW2 fighters will bury themselves deep in the earth. See following for Spitfire recovery and note the depth? The majority of the Spitfire buried itself on impact into the ground.

Scroll to 41 minutes to see the recovery. If a lightweight WW2 fighter can embed itself to a depth of 10 feet then think what an aircraft weighing approx 78,000 kg will do on a vertical or near vertical impact?

Link to Spitfire recovery video

www.youtube.com...

F=MA. The ball bearing buries itself in the crater.

Link to video.

www.youtube.com...

What a crazy accident! That is all it was. They happen all the time. Some have gone so far as alienating the pilot, the spectators for attending such events, and even operating historical machines like the airplane involved in this crash? What the heck! Should we stop driving our cars because of the potential of getting killed, riding motorcycles, going on roller-coasters, skydiving, or any other activity that involves risk? Heck no! What will be will be.

I am fairly certain whoever put together this airshow took every precaution imaginable to maintain the safety of spectators. This my friends is a freak accident, and although rare; they tend to happen from time to time. For me personally, I would not lock myself inside the house because of fear from stuff like this happening or anything. I bet it was a rather exciting show before this unspeakable accident occurred.

It was a freak accident, but lets show some respect to the families affected by this, the victims, those killed, and the pilot who tried everything within his power to minimize the severity of this accident. By all means attend airshows, skydive, take your motorcycle out for a spin and enjoy the breeze, accompany one of these pilots during a flight in one of these vintage aircraft from the past, and take a ride on a roller-coaster. Everyday we walk out of our front door there is always the risk of not returning. It is a fact of life, and so why worry about it. What will be will be.

Perhaps it wasn't simply a freak accident...

It will be interesting to see if they are able to confirm this as the cause of the accident, and if they do, perhaps all of the P-51's should be grounded, at least for this sort of intensive acrobatic flying that involves spectators in close proximity to the area. I think having 2 cases of the same thing happening, one almost causing death, and the other causing pilot death as well as spectator death and mass injuries, then I do think that steps should be taken to minimize all the risks, even if that means grounding this particular model for these types of races in the future.

As Reno rethinks air races, possible cause of crash is seen

Witnesses said they saw a part fall from Jimmy Leeward’s P-51 Mustang seconds before it pitched up then straight down into the spectator area...

“Without the trim tab, the aircraft may have been uncontrollable,” writes Mike Danko on his Aviation Law Monitor blog.

If that was the cause of the accident, then it wouldn’t have been the first time at the Reno Air Races.

“There was an incident during the 1998 Reno Air Races in which a trim tab came off a P-51 named Voodoo Chile,” writes Russ Niles, editor-in-chief of AvWeb. “In that incident … the aircraft pitched violently up, causing pilot Bob Hannah to black out under a G load estimated at 10 Gs. He regained consciousness at 9,000 feet and was able to land safely.”

If the broken trim tab was the cause of Friday’s accident, that means it’s likely that the pilot’s age (he was 74) was not a factor.

My Father and several other relatives were there, I felt it in my gut. They are OK physically, not so much mentally. 200 feet from the impact site. My pops just made it home a short while ago and finally called me. It was great to hear my Dad's voice. He had trouble trying to describe it. I will not make further comments about what he witnessed, as we all know most of the details as well showing respect to all affected. My heart goes out to them all. Now it's time to heal...
Thanks for your concern.
J

reply to post by exdog5


Thanks for the update, My thoughts are with your family x