2011 Reno Air Races crash

The North American P -51 " The Galloping Ghost" a year before the crash

In Reno Air Race plane crash in Reno in Nevada crashed on September 16, 2011 from an airplane of the type North American P -51 during the Reno Air Race in front of a grandstand. The pilot and ten spectators died and another 68 people were injured, some seriously.

Circumstances of the accident

The 74 -year-old pilot Jimmy Leeward U.S. steered his aircraft in Unlimited competition for the course. In the third round Leeward the "Show Line" was before the last pylon No. 9 in third place when he was in a left turn, lost control at a speed of 445 knots ( 820 km / h), in a clockwise role in the climb flew over and later in the role crashed right in front of the grandstand at a steep angle into the spectator area.

The investigation report was for the vertical component of the roll acceleration of up to 17.3 g of - a burden that must have led to the loss of consciousness within one second for the pilot.

Aircraft

The North American P -51 used ( Serial Number: 44-15651, Aircraft Registration: NX79111 ) was a single-seat all-metal fighter plane of the Second World War and was delivered on 23 December 1944, the United States Army Air Forces. After several changes of ownership of the aircraft Leeward was acquired in the 1980s and since then has been in the hangar in Ocala. He began in 2008 with extensive renovations to the machine and took also major changes. So he shortened the length of the wings of 11.28 meters to 8.81 meters, shortened the inside of the cockpit and put a modified cooling system for driving a, thereby the performance of the Packard V -1650 -7 1,719 HP (approx. 1,300 kW) to 3,852 hp ( 2,800 kW ) increased.

Cause

Employees of the U.S. Department of Transportation National Transportation Safety Board took immediate 17 September 2011 on the investigations.

Because of video recordings and photographs, it was found that dissolved parts of the tailplane. On August 27, 2012, the Authority announced the first results. Thus, the accident was a combination of modifications to the airplane, the failure to test and loose screw in the area of the horizontal stabilizer.

"Our investigation revealed thatthis pilot, airplane in this, had never flown at this speed, on this course. [ ... ] We are issuing a safety recommendation to Ensure did pilots and Their modified airplanes are put through paces Their prior to race day. "

Already in 1998, lost another converted P- 51 Voodoo Chile, the right trim tab during the race in Reno. The pilot "Hurricane" Bob Hannah, a former motocross world champion, the plane could after a blackout at 10 g and after a rapid climb to 9,000 ft ( 2,700 m) again brought under control and land safely.