The Reno Air Race Crash Impact

Almost anyone who has piloted an aircraft, especially a vintage or experimental type, may feel like they have cheated death at one time or another. The fear of death is a natural part of an unnatural act of flying. After all, it’s been said: “If God wanted man to fly he would have given him wings.”  No one is immune from the emotions around flying. You can read later in this blog how even the aviation experts at Aero Consulting Experts (ACE) had their brush-ups against death while flying.

Pilots know that the laws of propulsion and physics are on their side giving lift to aircraft. The combination allows for current-day jets to lift close to a million pounds at takeoff and fly at speeds of over 500 mph, while doing it safely.  This phenomenon makes flying not only one of the safest forms of travel but makes the entire event seem almost routine.

However, routine was not the case for a vintage World War II P-51D Mustang airplane — aptly named the “Galloping Ghost” — at the September 17, 2011 National Championship Air Races in Reno, NV. The accident killed pilot, Jimmy Leeland of Florida and created one of the largest “mass-casualty situations” in sports aviation history.  Tragically, Jimmy’s plane crashed into a group of spectators killing 11 people and injuring nearly 70 other people. It was the first crash in the Reno event’s history where spectators have died (the previous tally was 19 pilots killed at the Reno races since the start in 1964). The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

It is well known that there is a certain amount of risk and danger involved in air racing. People will often say upon hearing of a racer’s death “at least they died doing what they loved.” However, in Reno nothing can be said or done to undo the pain and sorrow that this unforeseen event caused.  What we now have — borrowing the words of NTSB investigators — is an opportunity and an obligation to learn the lessons at Reno that could prevent another accident of this type from occurring in the future. In other words, the show must go on. The air race circuit is one of aviation history’s most endearing and oldest traditions.

The era of barnstorming in aviation history in the 1920s was an important stage between the early development of flying (the Wrights) and the launch of commercial aviation in the 1930s (and later the mass production of fighter aircraft used in WWII). Charles Lindberg credits his early barnstorming days as among the best years of his life; when he learned to endure harsh flying conditions and when he was able to save enough money to buy the Spirit of St Louis.

The love and the lore of the solo pilot performer though never died. Today, nearly 75 years later people still crave for the roar of a vintage WWII fighter plane or watch a 1920s era aircraft recreating some of man’s most daring moves in the sky. By the 1950s the era of the exhibition flying was launched again with the Commemorative Air Force and the spinoff of regional air shows.

There are several ACE consultants who know all too well the trill and tragedy around air races and crashes. In fact, one of them, Kent Holiday an avid fan of WW II era flying, and a seasoned pilot in the P-51 Mustang, attended the Reno air races and was at ground zero.  He was there at the day of the crash and will soon post his story here.  To learn more about this pilot please see Kent’s bio .

The author of this blog, and an ACE aviation public affairs specialist, AC Carrier, launched a journalism career by witnessing and reporting for The Arizona Daily Star on the crash of an A-7D Corsair. This unfortunate accident resulted in the death of two students near the University of Arizona. The experience of witnessing and writing about the Tucson jet crash lead Allen Carrier (AC) to a career with U.S. Rep. Norman Mineta (D-CA) who later became U.S. Transportation Secretary in the Bush Administration during the New York 9/11 Terrorist Attacks.

And that is where we find ourselves today: starring at an air accident again. Even the next day after the Reno crash, a pilot died in a West Virginia air show in front of hundreds of spectators. All of this comes a month after seven people from one family died in a crash in Alabama when the plane’s engines failed less than two miles from the airport. And so it goes, the great flying tradition continues. It is part of the human spirit, this competitiveness that pushes us to try and outdo one another.  The air race will continue.