Reno Crash PIREP

[Sven]

As a group of friends, several of us were scattered throughout the air race. Some were in the pit area, some were in box seats, and some were on the front line on the ramp. I was the latter. For those of you not familiar with Reno, the races take place over a large desert void of trees and filled with sage brush. The view is sweeping and most anywhere you stand you can see the entire course. 

Throughout the day there were several “mayday” calls. In these cases pilots, who are traveling about 200 agl or less, gently but quickly pull their planes up and inside the circle exchanging speed for altitude. Then, one of two runways are chosen to land on. I witnessed three or four maydays Friday. Most were minor and one was a dead stick. All followed the same safe and practiced protocol.

The last race of the day was the unlimited class. These are the “bad boys” of air racing. All the planes were attaining speeds close to 500 mph. It was the third lap and planes were rounding the last pylon and speeding in front of the crowds. Slower classes of planes make the corner and quickly straighten their trajectories as they pass in front of the spectators. But, because of their speed, the unlimited class planes have a wider turn  and seem to be just finishing that turn as they reach the pit area.

As the Galloping Ghost passed the pit area my friends in that area all heard a “pop” and witnessed the sharp ascent. From my perspective we heard the announcer declare that yet another mayday was called. Seeing it happen four times already that day we expected to see practiced routine. I was taking pictures the whole time so I followed The Ghost. Immediately, everyone could tell this was not a “routine” mayday. The plane pulled up quickly, almost violently and vertical. It also came toward the crowd instead of pulling inside the racing circle. But it didn’t yet look like it was out of control.

At the top of the arc it wobbled from nose to tail three to four times and rolled onto its back. When we saw the wobble we knew this was going to be bad. As the plane made its nosedive it was difficult to determine where it was going to hit but it was quickly apparent that it was going to hit the grandstands. Most everyone, me included, at least for a moment, thought it was going to hit them. As it was headed down he seemed to pull up ever so slightly giving everyone the sense he was trying to save as many people as possible below him.

The impact was horrific and earth shattering. There was silence followed immediately by screaming.The debris was flying mostly away from the crowd although those in the immediate vicinity were hit by debris, avgas and coolant. We braced for an explosive fireball that never happened. I’m still baffled why there was no fire.

In the immediate aftermath people responded very quickly. The announcer told everyone who was injured to lay down and that help would come to you. That help came within seconds. Those of us left uninjured surveyed a surreal scene filled with wandering and dazed injured. One woman wandered around, her hand was missing. We were horrified at the gore of the scene as we stared at the debris field immediately in front of us. Aircraft parts mixed with “life” seemed like a scene out of a horror movie or a nightmare.

As the emergency crews did their thing, groups of us gathered and tried to immediately make sense of what we saw. The pull up from the mayday call was very abrupt and nearly vertical. The G forces must have been tremendous. The speed at which he was traveling was over 400 mph so I do not see how he could have stalled. However, this Mustang was a chopped-wing version. But, it did not seem to slow even at the top of the arc.

The plane did a very perceptible wobble from the nose to the tail. That happened three to four times and seemed to look like a series of overcorrections at first. However, those of us who were pilots wondered about the G forces on the pull up and pondered if he may have momentarily blacked out. The other scenario is that there’s a report of people in the pits seeing the trim tab fall off the rudder. If he felt like he was out of control and heading toward the crowd that abrupt ascent may have been his attempt to stay out of the stands. At the speed and altitude he was traveling if he had not done that he would have wiped out the stands.

As he was headed straight down he seemed to pull up slightly. It looked to us like an heroic effort to save as many people as possible. My friend sitting in the box seat was only 40 feet away from the impact, three boxes away. He was blasted by debris and avgas. He said it hit between the A row and the B row. “A” boxes are at the front right along the flight line, “B” boxes are the next row back. Each box was about 10 feet wide and fit 15 people. Because it was the race everyone was waiting to see, the boxes were filled. However, had this been Saturday or Sunday the casualties would have been much higher.

I was about 300 feet from the impact and was surprised by how much heavy debris made it to me. One prop blade and large sections of the engine came close. There was a tremendous amount of blue foam flying around. This had to have come from the plane but I’m not sure where. Was it a composite wing? I don’t know.

My photos of the ascent and descent indicate that there were no gross anomalies visible. Everything seemed to be in its place. The questions I have are as follows. What caused the pilot to turn toward the crowd instead of inside the circle as the well-practiced protocol required? What caused the pilot to make an abrupt, almost violent ascent? Did G forces have an affect on the pilot? Was the wobbling at the top of the high speed arc due to a mechanical failure or a result of the pilot regaining consciousness? Was the plane traveling too fast to have stalled? What role might the chopped wing have played? Why did the plane abruptly nosedive? Was the pilot pulling the plane out of the dive trying to hit as few people as possible? Why was there no fireball? Did the pilot describe his problem before the impact?

If you look at my photos you’ll see the plane disintegrated on impact. The largest pieces I observed were about 1/4 of the engine, the oil pan, the prop blades. One of the most visible pieces was the partially deployed parachute and the mangled pack. It was a grim reminder of the human toll. I cannot imagine how a reconstruction will reveal much, if anything. Unless a part is found that fell off before the impact, or unless a meticulous reconstruction reveals missing parts, I am unsure how this investigation is going to reveal anything.

I used to think that being an accident investigator would be an interesting and compelling job. After seeing what was in the debris field I have gained an heroic appreciation for first responders and accident investigators. 

Peace to the memory of those who lost their lives and peace to the collective memories of those who witnessed this tragic event.

 

You can see some of my photos here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/yahyoubetcha.net/RenoAirRaceCrash

[MooneyMitch]

Words for this tragedy are very hard to find.  You have done a great job sharing with all of us.  Take care Scott.

[jetdriven]

[Shadrach]

Quote: Sven

 

My photos of the ascent and descent indicate that there were no gross anomalies visible. Everything seemed to be in its place. The questions I have are as follows.

What caused the pilot to turn toward the crowd instead of inside the circle as the well-practiced protocol required?

This plane was likely no longer under control, and the pilot  barely conscience if at all. 

What caused the pilot to make an abrupt, almost violent ascent?

The trim tab that you mentioned departing the airplane was not a rudder tab, but an elevator tab. When it departed the aircraft, the stick likely went full aft at ~450mph. That's easily >10Gs.

Did G forces have an affect on the pilot?

No question...

Was the wobbling at the top of the high speed arc due to a mechanical failure or a result of the pilot regaining consciousness?

Not having seen it, I will not speculate...

Was the plane traveling too fast to have stalled?

Depends on what point after the tab failure your talking about. At the top of the arc, it's more likely to happened.

Stall speed increases by the square root of the G load: For example if stall is 100kts at 1G then at 2Gs (the 2√ stall speed is 100 X 1.41 or 141kts.  Depending on speed, the g-forces incurred would've been in excess of 15. 

What role might the chopped wing have played?

higher stall...that's about it.

Why did the plane abruptly nosedive?

plane was out of control

Was the pilot pulling the plane out of the dive trying to hit as few people as possible?

Pilot was likely unconscious

Why was there no fireball? Did the pilot describe his problem before the impact?

LUCK

If you look at my photos you’ll see the plane disintegrated on impact. The largest pieces I observed were about 1/4 of the engine, the oil pan, the prop blades. One of the most visible pieces was the partially deployed parachute and the mangled pack. It was a grim reminder of the human toll. I cannot imagine how a reconstruction will reveal much, if anything. Unless a part is found that fell off before the impact, or unless a meticulous reconstruction reveals missing parts, I am unsure how this investigation is going to reveal anything.

I used to think that being an accident investigator would be an interesting and compelling job. After seeing what was in the debris field I have gained an heroic appreciation for first responders and accident investigators. 

Peace to the memory of those who lost their lives and peace to the collective memories of those who witnessed this tragic event.

 

You can see some of my photos here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/yahyoubetcha.net/RenoAirRaceCrash

[Sven]

Here's the best article yet explaining what may have happened. The factual NTSB report is due out Friday. But this article explains a lot of what we saw Friday.

http://www.flyingmag.com/news/reno-crash-update-telemetry-data-emerges?cmpid=enews092011