Friday, September 16, 2011

Deaths in US airshow crash

AL Jazeera Americas
A plane plunges into the stands at an air race event in Reno, killing at least three people and injuring scores more.
Last Modified: 17 Sep 2011 01:45

A plane crashed near or into the grandstand at the Reno Air Races in northern Nevada
At least three people have died and 56 more injured when a vintage aircraft crashed into the ground at an air show in the US state of Nevada, a spokesman and video images showed.
Mike Houghton, president and CEO of Reno Air Races told a news conference hours after the crash that mechanical problems might have caused a World War II-era fighter plane to plunge into the grandstands at a Nevada air show on Friday.
Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman for the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority, said 25 people were critically injured and another 25 people were seriously hurt in the crash.
Killed in the crash was the pilot, 74-year-old movie stunt pilot Jimmy Leeward, and at least two others.
"We're being told that there are likely fatalities," race spokesman Mike Draper told CNN, adding that there were "mass casualties" in the crash, amateur video of which was posted on YouTube and shown on the news network.
"It's just like a massacre. It's like a bomb went off," said eyewitness Gerald Lent, quoted by the Reno Gazette-Journal. "There are people lying all over the runway."
The aircraft was a World War II P-51 Mustang fighter jet, called the 'Galloping Ghost.' It was piloted by a Florida real estate developer, the newspaper reported.
Draper said the plane was a lap or two into the race when its pilots called in a mayday.
"We don't know why it crashed. The pilot did call in. He did pull out of the lap, which is what they do. They usually pull up, directly up to clear the race track," he added.
Source:
Agencies

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