Plane crashes into stands at Reno Air Race

As others have tried to explain, you need a medical certificate to fly planes. At 74, this man looks like he could kick most 20 year old's butts, and if he could still fly safe there should be no issue. Besides, there are photos out there that clearly show the elevator tab coming off in the last moments of flight. Question for the P-51 experts: Is the Mustang's elevators actually controlled by the tab? I know some planes are configured this way, meaning loss of just the tab would mean loss of elevator control?
 
Looks like a trim tab on one of the elevators is missing. My guess is that the missing tab is not the only thing that broke before the crash.

This is a tragic event and likely does not bode well for pilots over 60 years of age, airworthy vintage aircraft, or airshows in general. For decades there have been private groups and government agencies trying to eliminate all three of these things. This is likely fuel for that fire.

My condolences to those who lost their lives, my prayers and thoughts to all the victims and their families.
 
My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone invovled in the incident. Very tragic, indeed.

Ever since I was a kid I always wanted to go to the Reno Air Races. Over the last fifteen years the wife and I have been there five times, always on a Friday. Since we're older now the last couple of years I was able to get tickets in the grandstand at the Start-Finish line, so I'm familaar with the exact spot where this incident occured. It's a very sad time, indeed.

--WH
 
For those who haven't figured it out....a pilot's license is more of a medical certificate than anything else. Your class of medical dictates what and how you can fly. Just so happens my appointment is next week. Due every two years for guys my age.

A sad factor here is that there is only one point in the race where the aircraft are even close to the crowd, and then only for a few seconds. Had this happened at any other point on the course the only casualty would have been the pilot.
 
I know about Airman Medical issues quite well. I have twice been forced to give my First Class Medical up due to health issues. The first time many years ago due to an issue with vertigo(which was related to an inner ear infection with prolonged effects which later cleared up) This time due to cardiovascular/cardiac problems. My doc and specialist says I am on track to recover to be able to regain my AM. However at this point I'm not sure if I'm going to get back into the cockpit or not as I had decided to hang up my headset for safety and personal reasons. The next year will bear out the answer on that. I have studied journals on medical issues and have known many ATP Captains and FO's who have regained their medicals after serious issues. But truth be known, a heart attack can strike any pilot at any age and I knew a 61 fellow who died of a heart attack 2 weeks after his last medical. It happens but I'm 100% sure the exam process is absolutely thorough enough and so to the point that medically caused accidents are as low as possibly can be.

That being said, we all know the talking heads in certain levels of the FAA & NTSB are going to go apes with this accident which based on evidence seen I think there's no doubt it was a case of mechanical/structural failure resulting in departure of controlled flight. Leave no doubt though that after this(and many other accidents this year) there will be heavy scrutiny place on airframe worthiness, pilot medical/age criteria(already in progress), and a review of airshow safety margins from all perspectives and other factors. I expect major changes but I hope and pray those changes won't be too draconian to the point of detriment to aviation in general.
 
No tab, tail wheel forced out, note the puff of coolant near the radiator- things were coming unglued in the back of that airplane.
 
deathfromafar said:
I know about Airman Medical issues quite well. I have twice been forced to give my First Class Medical up due to health issues. The first time many years ago due to an issue with vertigo(which was related to an inner ear infection with prolonged effects which later cleared up) This time due to cardiovascular/cardiac problems. My doc and specialist says I am on track to recover to be able to regain my AM. However at this point I'm not sure if I'm going to get back into the cockpit or not as I had decided to hang up my headset for safety and personal reasons. The next year will bear out the answer on that. I have studied journals on medical issues and have known many ATP Captains and FO's who have regained their medicals after serious issues. But truth be known, a heart attack can strike any pilot at any age and I knew a 61 fellow who died of a heart attack 2 weeks after his last medical. It happens but I'm 100% sure the exam process is absolutely thorough enough and so to the point that medically caused accidents are as low as possibly can be.

That being said, we all know the talking heads in certain levels of the FAA & NTSB are going to go apes with this accident which based on evidence seen I think there's no doubt it was a case of mechanical/structural failure resulting in departure of controlled flight. Leave no doubt though that after this(and many other accidents this year) there will be heavy scrutiny place on airframe worthiness, pilot medical/age criteria(already in progress), and a review of airshow safety margins from all perspectives and other factors. I expect major changes but I hope and pray those changes won't be too draconian to the point of detriment to aviation in general.
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I fear your right, consider this. There have been up until now, 19 fatalties at the reno air races over a 40+ years, and that not real bad compaired to other motosports.
 
deathfromafar said:
I know about Airman Medical issues quite well. I have twice been forced to give my First Class Medical up due to health issues. The first time many years ago due to an issue with vertigo(which was related to an inner ear infection with prolonged effects which later cleared up) This time due to cardiovascular/cardiac problems. My doc and specialist says I am on track to recover to be able to regain my AM. However at this point I'm not sure if I'm going to get back into the cockpit or not as I had decided to hang up my headset for safety and personal reasons. The next year will bear out the answer on that. I have studied journals on medical issues and have known many ATP Captains and FO's who have regained their medicals after serious issues. But truth be known, a heart attack can strike any pilot at any age and I knew a 61 fellow who died of a heart attack 2 weeks after his last medical. It happens but I'm 100% sure the exam process is absolutely thorough enough and so to the point that medically caused accidents are as low as possibly can be.

That being said, we all know the talking heads in certain levels of the FAA & NTSB are going to go apes with this accident which based on evidence seen I think there's no doubt it was a case of mechanical/structural failure resulting in departure of controlled flight. Leave no doubt though that after this(and many other accidents this year) there will be heavy scrutiny place on airframe worthiness, pilot medical/age criteria(already in progress), and a review of airshow safety margins from all perspectives and other factors. I expect major changes but I hope and pray those changes won't be too draconian to the point of detriment to aviation in general.
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If it is done with a modicum of sense it need not be too draconian. After the Farnborough crash new regulations were brought in for airshows in the UK; jet pilots need to keep at least 750 ft from crowds if flying straight and 1,480 ft when performing manoeuvres and always at an altitude of at least 490 ft - displays are planned to run parallel to the crowd line, never towards it. I think the shows we have are exciting, and there has not been another member of the public killed at an airshow in Britain since then. Other countries chose not to take the same route, deeming it to be typical British over-caution - well, I don't need to remind anybody here about the Rammstein disaster.

The problem with a 'show' like Reno is that it really isn't that .... it is a race, not a show. So, inevitably, you will have these incredibly high performance aircraft flown to their limits (and the Galloping Ghost was seriously high performance, the most modifed Mustang on the circuit), in such a way that an accident like this was sadly inevitable. With just a little thought the racing can still go on, and still be enjoyed by the crowds; it may just be that the crowds need to be further away, and maybe the aircraft need to fly within tighter limitations.

Spookily I have a old copy of 'Aeroplane' on my desk, which I was reading for research into the DH Venom; this particular issue, January 2011, also has an article about Galloping Ghost & Jimmy Leeward.
 
Just some facts and thoughts to post here again:

- The 'smoke' seen coming from the port-side of the aircraft, down where the radiator once was, is actually steam, and is perfectly normal - think of it like exhaust. The aircraft had a very inventive boil-off coolant system, rather than the typical radiator coolant system, thus during normal flight/power, steam would exit from the port-holes on either side of the fuselage, just behind the wings...this became one of the aircraft's 'signatures' over the last couple of years.

- As shown in the past, more than once, the departure of an elevator trim tab, at speed, with a fair amount of nose-down trim dialed beforehand, will result in an immediate and dramatic pitch-up, causing an enormous amount of G's on the aircraft and pilot.

- Pulling a high amount of positive G's can force the tailwheel out, especially with such an immediate amount of G's being put on the aircraft.

- The pilot can only be seen slumped over at the controls, in all of the photos after the point that the aircraft pitched up and lost control, which 'could' be attributed to the effects of a large amount of positive G's on the pilot.

- Everyone who witnessed the incident who has talked about the sound of the aircraft, states that at no time did the power ever come off, meaning that the throttle was advanced to race-speed all the way to impact. If the pilot were to have been conscious and thus able to still be functioning in the cockpit, following the pitch-up maneuver, one would expect that he would have brought the power back to help control the aircraft.

- The way in which the trimtab appears to have partially departed/broken, there may have been a short period of time for the pilot to have noticed something wrong in the handling of the aircraft - even if just a little, which could have been enough to call a mayday. As soon as the trimtab would have departed in a catastrophic manner, a pitch-up result could have been instantaneous and would not be expected/planned for, with an instant high G-loading on the pilot and aircraft.
 
lazarus said:
No tab, tail wheel forced out, note the puff of coolant near the radiator- things were coming unglued in the back of that airplane.
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Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, I mean something went wrong at the tail and the pic of the trim tab shows that.

I was completely shocked to read this here this afternoon. Just yesterday at work during lunch I was checking up on the racing stats. I'm heartsick about this. I was so excited to see what the Galloping Ghost would do at this years races, performance wise. I'm still shocked to see Jimmy Leeward is gone and all of the resulting injured. That man was one of the greatest pilots ever.

Hell, just this week, I made Relentless (NXT Sport Class Race #42) my wallpaper at work.

I hope this results in an effort to make air racing that much safer, and not an impetus to shut it down. Although, like Bomber 12th, I'd rather warbirds not be allowed to be used as air racers, to prolong their heritage. It really is time for home built aircraft to take over the unlimited class. Let them use new build "replica" Merlins, etc. Hell, some of the planes in the Sport class were starting to approach unlimited performance anyway. But that's another argument for another time.

My thoughts and condolences to all of the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives and those injured.
 
Looking at the photo Allan posted I see what appears to be a detectable down-angle on that broken port-side trim tab (the highlight on the trailing edge of the tab also indicates a variance in it relative to the rest of the flight control surface that remains in shadow, as is much of the rest of the aircraft). I imagine this would force the elevator, and hence the aircraft, into a tail low/nose high position and likely produce a significant pitch up force on the stick, perhaps so large that Jimmy could not possibly exert enough forward push on the stick at all to recover, especially at near race speeds. The fact that he appeared to depart the race course in a sudden, high speed vertical climb which appears to have rapidly evolved into a loop (with an accompanying high speed stall perhaps?), all occurring in just a scant few seconds from pitch up to impact may attest to the situation's non-recoverability; the only thing he may have been able to do is wrestle the controls as best he could to get it as far away from the crowd as he could before impact. Tragically, he ran out of altitude, room, and time.

N.
 
Thats 7 or 8 pilots killed this year alone....

I don't think I'm going to the Redding Air Show this year. Too much bad juju in the air.
 
You have to understand that flying at 450-500 mph in something such as a Mustang, there is a considerable amount of nose-down elevator trim dialed in to keep it at that speed and level attitude. The second that an elevator trimtab departs (and that is the crucial amount of time here it seems - a mere second), all of that down-trim is gone in just that amount of time. Now think of going that fast, and having the attitude of the aircraft change so drastically in such a short time-span as a second - I don't know if anyone, especially as no one could get themselves prepared for it, could handle the sudden force of gravity from that and not be incapacitated.

Just a sad, terrible incident, that no one could have predicted or planned for.
 
with 10+ G's of force any normal human being not wearing a G suit and not sitting in a semi reclining position, would be pulled down and forward and be bent over. The nose up happening so suddenly would also cause the pilots head to contact the panel frame with severe force. Doesnt matter if he's 19 or a hundred.

My heart and prayers go out to Jimmy and his family and the family and loved ones of all who died..

Pam
 
this is just terrible...it looks as though that the G-forces imposed on the unfortunate pilot rendered him unconscious following the violent pitchup at racing speed when the elevator trim tab broke off, there was no chance of recovery because it happened so quickly.
Nothing to do with age, if he looks 50 and is medically fit for flying and air racing. that's a non issue. It could have happened to anyone regardless of how old they are. The media don't know any better of course.
 
Whatever the final truth may be, when it comes out in 6-9 months time, the media will have long since forgotten about it, leaving all of the degenerates posting to the news stories on sites like Yahoo, continuing to think that age, ego, inexperience, or whatever false reason one can come up with, was the contributing factor. One can find it easy to blame all sorts of things I guess, without thinking that it was simply out of the control of anyone on this Earth, or in that plane.

Unlike those people, I can count my blessings, having seen Jimmy fly at a few air shows I've attended over the last several years, and be able to appreciate all that he did.
 
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