Reno air race - Mustang Crash

[11SQNLDR]

Sept 17, 2011 22:45:59 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

There is a series of photos from many sources on this news page, if you can stomach looking.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2038452/Reno-Nevada-air-race-crash-3-killed-50-injured-WW2-fighter-plane.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

There's also detail about the late pilot and the incident. I'm amazed that the news agencies are now saying only 3 people including the pilot were killed. When I first heard the news they were saying around 30, then it was 12 for a few hours, now three. I hope the lower figure is accurate.

An interesting side story is how a veteran Iroquois that was on static display at the event as a warbird was hastilly fuelled up and thrown into action as a medivac chopper, great work by that team.

Thanks for that link Dave.

The news report there now confirms 9 fatalities...

[Dave Homewood]

Yes, and I expect it will rise too.

[Darren Masters]

From the LA Times:

David Wilson, an aircraft engineer for Virgin Australia, said he was standing 25 yards from where Leeward crashed and filmed the last moments.

He said photographs showed the elevator trim tab coming loose. “That would certainly explain what happened. That would create a huge problem at that speed. It controls the up and down motion of the nose. It’s a flight control at the rear of the aircraft. A very important feature as concerns loss of control. That would do it,” he said.

The NTSB is looking at what role, if any, was played by the tab, which appeared to be missing in photographs and video of the aircraft taken Friday.

“We're aware of that, and a component has been recovered in the area where that was observed,” Rosekind told reporters.

[efliernz]

There are now several photos showing the loss of the elevator trim and the pilot is not visible in the canopy (possibly slumped forward).





This from Aero-news Network site:

www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=d6a3841f-d0e9-44a8-b723-36bbc062ae70

From what we've researched and documented, a failure of the trim tab (especially at speeds pushing 500MPH) can produce a massive amount of pitch excursion... and the loads on the pilot could be intense...

As an example, in 1998, a racing incident involving Bob Button's P-51 'VooDoo' centered around an elevator trim tab failure. Pilot Bob Hannah experienced a failure of the left elevator trim tab, which, "came off the airplane at speed, causing the bird to abruptly pitch up, subjecting driver Hannah to over 10 G's of deceleration forces, and causing him to lose conciousness! When he came to, the raceplane had climbed to over 9,000 feet of altitude. A shaken Hannah regained control and brought Voodoo in for a safe landing. Suspected structural damage kept the sleek raceplane out of Sunday's championship competition."

A very sad and crappy situation, no matter what the cause...

Pete

[Darren Masters]

Definitely Pete. Either way not good. This video below shows (from a different angle) just how violent the impact was. Listen to the speed of the aircraft just before impact:

www.cnn.com/2011/US/09/17/nevada.plane.crash/

[aeromedia]

RENO (AP) – The death toll in the crash of a World War II-era plane during a Reno air race rose to nine people Saturday as investigators combed through wreckage and scoured amateur video clips to determine why the aircraft suddenly spiraled out of control and plummeted to the ground near hundreds of spectators.

The deaths include seven people who died on the tarmac, including the 74-year-old pilot, and two others who died at hospitals, Reno Deputy Police Chief Dave Evans said.

The higher death toll was announced at a briefing a day after the Friday afternoon crash. Authorities previously said that three people had perished.

[baz62]

And now I see a T28 Trojan has crashed at an airshow in the states killing the pilot.
www.fox40.com/news/headlines/hm-plane-crashes-on-runway-at-martinsburg-air-show-20110917,0,2083064.story

Not good for the US airshow scene and even worse for the families who have lost loved ones. My condolences.

[aeromedia]

I have just emailed Yahoo telling them I think its very poor form using a photo of a very well-known NZ Mustang with the Reno Story on their home page this morning and the shocking headline right under that pic. For the uninitiated the conclusion could initially be drawn that our Mustang has been involved.

If I was Graham, I'd be suing them !

[jonesy]

Sept 18, 2011 12:39:51 GMT 12 aeromedia said:

I have just emailed Yahoo telling them I think its very poor form using a photo of a very well-known NZ Mustang with the Reno Story on their home page this morning and the shocking headline right under that pic. For the uninitiated the conclusion could initially be drawn that our Mustang has been involved.

If I was Graeme, I'd be suing them !

Cheap lazy journalism is what it was....

[Dave Homewood]

That is really not good, especially when there is an open day at Ardmore today that ZK-TAF is likely to be participating in. Yahoo needs to be disciplined for that one.

[baz62]

Yep I've given them an ear full too!
Bet they leave it up.

[ErrolC]

The NTSB initial briefing has, as you would expect, little to say about the incident itself (except an update on casualties), and lots of how the investigation will be conducted.

[Darren Masters]

So what'd Yahoo do? Bet you they Googled a pic and used whatever came up? Lousy alright...

[angelsonefive]

I notice, in the pics taken just before the impact, that the tailwheel is extended while the main gear is retracted.

That seems odd.

[ErrolC]

Sept 19, 2011 0:07:59 GMT 12 angelsonefive said:

I notice, in the pics taken just before the impact, that the tailwheel is extended while the main gear is retracted.

That seems odd.

I saw an unverified comment elsewhere that a Mustang's tailwheel will typically unlock at 8G.
Also don't forget that this was a modified racing machine. Be especially careful with assumptions.

[sqwark2k]

And no sign of the pilot in pics.... some photoshopping going on? Certainly the sound prior to impact in the video sounds pretty quick....

[John L]

There's a report on Wix from a pilot who had a trim tab come off some years ago at Reno. Luckily he just went straight up, but, apparently there were forces exceeding 10G involved - he blacked out and came to at 9000 feet!
So a tail wheel unlocking at 8G would fit.....

www.warbird.com/voodoo.html

[Darren Masters]

Sept 19, 2011 17:32:28 GMT 12 sqwark2k said:

And no sign of the pilot in pics.... some photoshopping going on? Certainly the sound prior to impact in the video sounds pretty quick....

That sound is a shocker. Sheer speed!

[lumpy]

Sept 19, 2011 17:32:28 GMT 12 sqwark2k said:

And no sign of the pilot in pics.... some photoshopping going on?

There was speculation that that might have been the case , but most seem the accept the photo as genuine now . There is a photo taken from underneath as the plane rolls , that seems to show the pilot slumped forward ( hence not visible in the shot you probabally refer to )

[corsair67]

If the pilot was subject to 8+G, no wonder he's nowhere to be seen in the profile image of that Mustang.

There wouldn't really be that many current non-military pilots who would have a g-tolerance that high, would there?

I was surprised that the pilot was as advanced in age as he was - I always thought only younger blokes in their 30-40s were generally involved in air racing as pilots.