A vintage World War II fighter plane Friday crashed into the stands at an air show in Reno, Nev., killing a minimum of three people and injuring more than 50 others.
It was a scene filled with carnage, with some of the victim’s losing body parts and bloody bodies spread all over the accident site, according to the Associated Press.
The crash at the popular annual air show is under investigation, but authorities suspect that a mechanical malfunction caused the accident. Federal safety authorities have been more stringent about allowing air shows such as the National Championship Air Races in Reno in recent times, after four pilots died in 2007 and 2008, according to AP.
The timing may be right to put the kibosh on these kinds of air shows. AP described an air show as “a car race in the sky, with planes flying wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet off the sagebrush at speeds sometimes surpasing 500 mph.”
If that doesn’t sound like an accident waiting to happen, I don’t know what does. Factor in the age of the vintage planes, and you’ve got a real recipe for disaster.
The dead Friday included the pilot of the P-51 Mustang that crashed, Jimmy Leeward, 74, of Ocala, Fla. Leeward was a movie stunt pilot and a renowned airman, according to AP. His plane suddenly went out of control and slammed into a box seat area of the grandstand.
Some 56 people were taken to three local hospitals, and AP reported that 15 were in critical condition, 13 were in serious condition and 28 had non-life threatening injuries. Unfortunately, I’d be surprised if there aren’t any more deaths.