10 Dead After Plane Crashes at Nevada Air Show | Stunt Pilot Killed | 54 Spectators Hospitalized | Videos of Crash

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016240801_warbirds18m.html

The Seattle Times...

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3 from state feared dead in Reno air crash

A Washington couple affiliated with the Cascade Warbirds, a group of vintage military aircraft owners and their supporters in the state, are missing and feared dead from the Friday afternoon crash at a Reno, Nev., air race.

By Dominic Gates and Ken Armstrong

Seattle Times staff reporters

The vintage World War II-era fighter plane piloted by Jimmy Leeward plunged into a seating area during the popular annual air show in Reno, Nev.
Enlarge this photo

GARRET WOODSON / AP

The vintage World War II-era fighter plane piloted by Jimmy Leeward plunged into a seating area during the popular annual air show in Reno, Nev.

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A Washington couple affiliated with the Cascade Warbirds, a group of vintage military aircraft owners and their supporters in the state, are missing and feared dead from the Friday afternoon crash at a Reno, Nev., air race.

In addition, a man from the Puget Sound area, Greg Morcom, 47, was identified late Saturday night by KOMO-TV as being among those killed.

A 1940s-era plane, a P-51D Mustang, crashed into the crowd, killing the pilot and at least eight people on the ground, and injuring dozens more.

The Cascade Warbirds website posted a message from the head of the organization, Greg Anders, saying the "crash at Reno was very near the Cascade Warbird box."

"The news does not sound good," Anders wrote.

Dave Desmon, a Cascade Warbirds executive officer and Boeing employee, was standing very close to the impact point and suffered minor injuries. On Saturday, he was leading the organization's effort in Reno to account for all the members who were there.

At 3 p.m. Saturday, nearly 24 hours after the accident, Desmon said by phone from Reno that he was "still trying to ascertain" if any of his members were among the dead.

Pete Jackson, another member of the Warbirds in Reno, said: "There were a few people who weren't necessarily in their original boxes at the time, and no one has managed to make contact with them."

Later, Desmon said a member of the Warbirds and his wife are still unaccounted for.

Injuries among the rest of the group included minor bruises, scrapes and cuts and a broken foot, he said.

The Warbirds club, headquartered in Oak Harbor and with about 220 members, is dedicated to preserving World War II-era military aircraft, educating people to the planes' history and honoring their role in winning the war.

Its members regularly fly at air shows, including displays this summer at Paine Field in Everett and in Olympia.

Michele Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Reno police and fire departments, said Saturday evening that in addition to the nine people known dead, at least 17 were still being treated at area hospitals. At least 24 other people had been treated and released, Anderson said.

Names of the injured and dead will be released by the Reno Police Department and Washoe County Medical Examiner's Office as soon as identifications are certain and next of kin have been notified, Anderson said. Authorities don't know how long that will take, but it could be a matter of days, Anderson said.

Jean Baker, 81, lives in Sacramento, Calif., but has a summer place on Center Island in the San Juans. He was at the air show with his son, Todd, and the two were sitting in Row 14 of the grandstands.

"He was heading right for us, full-bore," Baker told The Seattle Times. "Then he kind of barely managed to pull it up just a bit, and went right into the box stands. It was just absolutely awful. There were body parts lying all around."

Baker said he was about 75 feet from the point of impact. The plane's debris flew away from the grandstands, with the engine and propeller the biggest parts left, Baker said. "Everything else was just pieces."

Baker, a retired vacuum-tube engineer, said he has been going to the Reno air show for about 30 years. He had previously seen pilots die in crashes but never before witnessed a plane hitting the spectator stands.

"This is a real tragedy," Baker said. "This is terrible."

John Gogol, a former Warbirds club member now living in Portland, said the historic-airplane community is close-knit. Gogol also knew the pilot killed Saturday in a separate air-show accident in West Virginia.

"I haven't felt this bad since my dad died," Gogol said in an email. "The aviation community is just pummeled."

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UPDATE...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/18/us-crash-airrace-giffords-idUSTRE78H06...

Reuters...

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Astronaut Mark Kelly, Gabrielle Giffords' husband, was to fly WWII plane in Reno air race

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By Mary Slosson

LOS ANGELES | Sat Sep 17, 2011 9:33pm EDT

(Reuters) - Astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords, was scheduled to fly aerobatics in a P-51 Mustang in the Reno air show on Saturday, a Giffords' spokesman said.

The plane is the same model as the vintage World War II fighter plane dubbed the "Galloping Ghost" that crashed into the audience on Friday, killing nine people and injuring more than 50 others, Giffords' spokesman Mark Kimble told Reuters.

Kelly was in Reno the day of the deadly accident, but Kindle said he was making his way back to Houston after the plane crash resulted in the cancellation of the races, originally scheduled to run through the weekend.

National Transportation Safety Board officials arrived in Reno on Saturday morning to determine the cause of the crash.

The Reno investigation began on the same day that another vintage aircraft, a T-28, crashed in a fireball at a Martinsburg, West Virginia air show, killing the pilot.

The Reno and West Virginia crashes are the latest in a spate of fatal air show accidents in the last two months.

Last month, the pilot of an aerobatic airplane died in a fiery crash in front of onlookers at a weekend air show in Kansas City.

In Michigan last month a wingwalker at an air show near Detroit also plunged about 200 feet to his death as he tried to climb onto a helicopter in midair.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Peter Bohan)

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AND NOW, TODAY (SATURDAY), ANOTHER AIR SHOW CRASH...

http://current.com/groups/airlines/93453029_again-plane-crashes-at-west-virginia...

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/17/us/reno-air-show-crash.html?_r=1

The New York Times...

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3 Are Dead and Dozens Injured in Crash of Vintage Plane at Show

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PHOTO: Ward Howes/Associated Press
A small vintage plane crashed into a crowd at a Nevada air show at the Reno-Stead Airport on Friday

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September 16, 2011
3 Are Dead and Dozens Injured in Crash of Vintage Plane at Show
By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS

A small vintage plane crashed into a crowd at a Nevada air show at the Reno-Stead Airport on Friday, killing at least three people, including the pilot, and injuring more than 50 others, officials said.

Witnesses and local media described scenes of carnage and chaos, and the National Championship Air Races, in a statement on Friday night, called the crash a “mass casualty situation.”

Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman for the Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority in Reno, said her agency had taken more than 50 patients, at least 15 of them critically injured, to three medical facilities.

Air race officials identified the pilot as Jimmy Leeward, 74, a real estate developer who had flown in the event many times. According to his Facebook page, Mr. Leeward, of Ocala, Fla., had more than 30 years of experience. He was flying a P-51 Mustang, a World War II-era fighter called the Galloping Ghost.

Videos of the event show a row of small planes flying up the crowd, when suddenly, a thin plume of brown smoke bursts from the back of Mr. Leeward’s plane, which almost immediately shoots to the ground. In one video, the camera finds the plane a moment later in a small sea of bodies, a trail of debris spread along the tarmac.

The plane went down about 4:20 p.m. on the third lap of a race, officials said. It went into a crowd of people in box seats on the tarmac. Mike Houghton, the president of Air Races, said at a news conference on Friday night that the cause was still under investigation but that it appeared to have been mechanical, a “problem with the aircraft that caused it to go out of control.”

The rest of the air show, an annual event that spans several days, was canceled Friday evening, Mr. Houghton said.

More than 200,000 people attend air races each year, and promoters bill the Reno show as a chance to see the “world’s fastest motor sport,” with planes exceeding 500 miles per hour. The races are run essentially like car track races, and planes fly as low as 50 feet, often nearly touching the wingtips of other planes.

The proximity of the planes is part of the draw for fans, and the show’s Web site uses the slogan: “Always remember to fly low, fly fast and turn left!” Promotional materials boast about extended free falls and “uninhibited, high-speed performances.”

This has been a deadly year for air shows. Last month, an aerial stuntman plunged 200 feet to his death as he attempted a plane-to-helicopter stunt in Harrison Township, Mich. He was standing on the wing of a small plane and then twice grabbed the skid of a helicopter and fell on the third try. Days before that, a pilot was killed in Kansas City, Mo., as his plane spiraled into a fiery crash after he could not complete a stunt meant for the show.

In 2007 at the Reno air race, three pilots died in three crashes over four days. One died when his plane stalled shortly after takeoff, another when his jet crashed during a race and the third after colliding with another. In 2008, another pilot died when the wings fell off her homebuilt plane during a practice, the 19th death in the history of the race.

Mr. Houghton described Mr. Leeward as a “talented, qualified” pilot who had done a lot of stunt flying for movies. He was also, Mr. Houghton said, a “close personal friend.”

“Jimmy was Jimmy,” Mr. Houghton said.

In an interview on Thursday with Live Airshow TV, Mr. Leeward stood by the Galloping Ghost and talked about the upcoming shows.

“We’re as fast as anybody in the field or maybe even a little faster,” he said. “We’ll see on Friday what happens.”

Ian Lovett and Jennifer Medina contributed reporting from Los Angeles.

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http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/US/09/17/nevada.plane.crash/c1main.nevadacrash...

Tragedy at Reno's air show.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110916/NEWS08/110916029/Nashville-man-sees-p...

The Tennessean...

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Nashville man sees pilot crash near grandstand
5:04 PM, Sep. 16, 2011

PHOTO:
Medics help injured bystanders out of a helicopter into Renown Medical Center after a plane crashed into the crowd at the Reno National Championship Air Races Friday afternoon. / Gannett News Service

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Updated 9:30 p.m.

Nashvillian Bill Freeman said he could only watch in horror as a plane piloted by his friend Jimmy Leeward crashed just in front of the grandstands Friday during a popular Reno airshow.

Pieces of the plane flew into the crowd killing at least three people and injuring roughly 75, according to reports from the Associated Press.

"The planes were coming around the front straightaway ... when his plane pitched straight up, at a 90-degree angle. There was a puff of smoke right before that happened, and then right after the plane went up, it abruptly pitched straight down. It hit the ground at an extremely high rate of speed ... it could have been doing 500 miles an hour easily when it hit the ground.

"The whole accident was over in about three or four seconds."

What happened next was like a scene straight out of a scary movie.

There were screams, cries and people calling for doctors, said Freeman, 59, of Green Hills, who has attended the Reno races for about 15 years and has been a pilot since the age of 16.

"There was no way he survived that. It was obvious the minute he hit the ground," said Freeman, of Freeman Webb real estate company. He plans to return to Nashville Saturday since the races have been cancelled.

Leeman, according to Freeman, was very well known in the aviation community.
It took him several years to fix up his P-51D Mustang, a World War Two-era aircraft he named "The Galloping Ghost."

"He was a great, capable, careful and cautious pilot," Freeman said. "He was one of the best and he will be sadly missed."

Described as a good-natured man with a great sense of humor, Leeman lived in Florida, where he worked as a real estate developer. He had been involved in arena air races since the 1970s, Freeman said.

updated 8:55 p.m.

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CBS NEWS/AP...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/16/national/main20107634.shtml

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(CBS/AP)

RENO, Nevada - A vintage World War II-era fighter plane plunged into the grandstands Friday during a popular annual air show, killing at least three people, injuring more than 50 spectators and creating a horrific scene strewn with body parts and smoking debris.

Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman for the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority, told The Associated Press that emergency crews took a total of 56 injury victims to three hospitals. She said they also observed a number of people being transported by private vehicle, which they are not including in their count.

Kruse said of the total 56, at the time of transport, 15 were considered in critical condition, 13 were serious condition with potentially life-threatening injuries and 28 were non-serious or non-life threatening.

"This is a very large incident, probably one of the largest this community has seen in decades," Kruse told The Associated Press. "The community is pulling together to try to deal with the scope of it. The hospitals have certainly geared up and staffed up to deal with it."

Reno Air Races President and CEO Mike Houghton said at a news conference that pilot Jimmy Leeward of Ocala, Fla., died in the crash Friday after apparently losing control of the aircraft.

Leeward owned the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team and was a well-known racing pilot. His website says he had flown more than 120 races and served as a stunt pilot for numerous movies, including "Amelia" and "Cloud Dancer."

He also was a real estate salesman.

Leeward died when the P-51 Mustang he was flying crashed into a box seat area at the front of the grandstands at the National Championship Air Races at about 4:30 p.m.

Initial reports indicated that the plane crashed directly into the spectator stands. But CBS affiliate KTVN Reno reported that the plane hit a group of tables stretching out from the grandstands. Witness reports and spectator video from the scene seemed to confirm that version of events.

Jimmy Leeward, owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team and a well-known racing pilot, died during a crash at a Reno. Nev., air race show Sept. 16, 2011.
(Credit: Leeward/Facebook)

Witnesses speaking to KTVN described a grisly scene. A spokesman for the event called it a "mass casualty situation." Video showed a chaotic scene with several people apparently badly wounded. Spectators were asked to leave the event immediately after the crash so that rescuers could do their work. Military personnel on the scene were also assisting.

KRNV-TV weatherman Jeff Martinez, who was just outside the air race grounds at the time, said the plane veered to the right and then "it just augered straight into the ground."

"You saw pieces and parts going everywhere," he said. "Everyone is in disbelief."

Another witness, Ronald Sargis, said he was sitting in the box seat area near the finish line when the crash occurred.

"We could see the plane coming around the far turn — it was in trouble," Sargis told KCRA-TV in Sacramento. "About six or seven boxes down from us, it impacted into the front row."

He said the pilot seemed to do everything he could to avoid crashing into the crowd. Response teams immediately went to work, Sargis said.

"They put out a call for any medically trained or police trained personnel to come and help. Within about two minutes the ambulance crews were loading people up and transporting them away."

After the crash Sargis went up a few rows into the grandstand to view the downed plane.

"It appeared to be just pulverized," he said.

Draper identified the pilot of the P-51 Mustang as Jimmy Leeward of Florida.

Leeward is the owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team and is a well-known racing pilot. His website says he has flown more than 120 races and served as a stunt pilot for numerous movies, including "Amelia" and "Cloud Dancer."

In an interview with the Ocala Star-Banner in Florida last year, he described how he has flown 250 types of planes and has a particular fondness for the P-51.

"They're more fun. More speed, more challenge. Speed, speed and more speed," he said.

The National Championship Air Races draws thousands of people every year in September to watch various military and civilian planes race.

The races have attracted scrutiny in the past over safety concerns, including four pilots killed in 2007 and 2008. It was such a concern that local school officials once considered whether they should not allow student field trips at the event.

The competition is like a car race in the sky, with planes flying wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet (15 meters) off the sagebrush at speeds sometimes surpassing 500 mph. Pilots follow an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft.

Democratic Sen. Harry Reid issued a statement saying he was "deeply saddened" about the crash.

"My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives and with those who were wounded in this horrific tragedy," he said. "I am so grateful to our first responders for their swift action and will continue to monitor this situation as it develops."

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http://www.rgj.com/article/20110916/EVENTS05/110916036/Update-Renown-says-two-co...

RCJ...

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Update: Three confirmed dead in air races crash; blood donations sought; more than 50 injured

7:24 PM, Sep. 16, 2011

Written by
Staff and wire reports

Initial press conference: Initial press conference after Reno Air Race crash on Friday Sept. 16, 2011

Debris from the plane that crashed at the Reno Air Races is scattered in front of the grandstand at the Stead Airport on Sept. 16, 2011. / Andy Barron/RGJ

7:23 p.m. update: Both the plane and the 80-year-old pilot who crashed Friday at the National Championship Air Races in Reno had been air-racing since the 1940s.

Together, they had the longest racing careers of any other active pilot or aircraft in the Reno event, according to race records.
Jimmy Leeward’s plane, the P-51 Mustang called Galloping Ghost was in its second year of Reno race comeback Friday when the aircraft flew high on a lap and then augered the aircraft into the VIP seats in the stands. The reason for the crash is unknown.
Leeward and at least three spectators died in the accident. At least 75 people were injured, about 25 critically, officials said. The P-51 fighter was racing when the aircraft pulled straight up, made a roll and “went right into the audience” in the VIP area, witnesses said.

Leeward is the owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team and is a well-known racing pilot. His website says he has flown more than 120 races.

As a stunt pilot he appeared in several movies including “Amelia,” “Cloud Dancer,” “Dragonfly,” “The Tuskegee Airmen,” and a “Smokey and the Bandit” sequel.

In an interview with the Ocala Star-Banner in Florida last year, he described how he has flown 250 types of planes and has a particular fondness for the P-51.

“They’re more fun. More speed, more challenge. Speed, speed and more speed,” he said.

Last year, Leeland brought the P-51 back to the races for the first time in more than 20 years.

“We’ve had 100 people come up to us and say ‘I’m so glad you brought that airplane back and restored it to the original colors,” Leeward told RGJ reporter Guy Clifton in an interview last year. “The whole air racing community is so happy about it.”

The Galloping Ghost competed and won at the post-World War II Cleveland Air Races of the late 1940s. It was flown and won at the Reno National Championship Air Races under different names, most notably “Jeannie” that Skip Holm piloted to the Unlimited Gold championship as a rookie in 1981.

It also won the Unlimited Gold Race in 1980 with Mac McClain in the cockpit. The plane was also named “Miss Candace” from 1969 to 1978 when it was owned and flown by Cliff Cummings.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/nevada-air-race-crash-kills-t...

The Globe and Mail...

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Nevada air race crash kills three, injures at least 75
SCOTT SONNER AND MARTIN GRIFFITH
RENO, NEV.— The Associated Press
Published Friday, Sep. 16, 2011 8:44PM EDT
Last updated Friday, Sep. 16, 2011 10:05PM EDT

A vintage World War II-era fighter plane plunged into the grandstands Friday during a popular annual air show, killing at least three people and injuring roughly 75 and creating a horrific scene strewn with body parts and smoking debris.

The plane spiraled suddenly out of control and appeared to disintegrate upon impact. Bloodied bodies were spread across the area as people tended to the victims and ambulances rushed to the scene.

Maureen Higgins of Alabama, who has been coming to the show for 16 years, said the pilot was on his third lap when he lost control.

She was sitting about 30 yards away from the crash and watched in horror as the man in front of her started bleeding after a piece of debris hit him in the head.

“I saw body parts and gore like you wouldn't believe it. I'm talking an arm, a leg,” Higgins said “The alive people were missing body parts. I am not kidding you. It was gore. Unbelievable gore.”

Among the dead was pilot Jimmy Leeward, 80, of Ocala, Fla., who flew the P-51 Mustang named the “Galloping Ghost,” according to Mike Houghton, president and CEO of Reno Air Races.

Renown Medical Center spokeswoman Kathy Carter confirmed that two others died, but did not provide their identities.

Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman for the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority, said 25 people were critically injured and another 25 people were seriously hurt in the crash. More than 25 more people were treated for minor injuries, she said.

Kruse said the critically injured were considered to have life-threatening injuries.

“This is a very large incident, probably one of the largest this community has seen in decades,” Kruse told The Associated Press. “The community is pulling together to try to deal with the scope of it. The hospitals have certainly geared up and staffed up to deal with it.”

The P-51 Mustang crashed into a box-seat area in front of the grandstand at about 4:30 p.m., race spokesman Mike Draper said. Houghton said Leeward appeared to have “lost control of the aircraft,” though details on why that happened weren't immediately known.

KRNV-TV weatherman Jeff Martinez, who was just outside the air race grounds at the time, said the plane veered to the right and then “it just augered straight into the ground.”

“You saw pieces and parts going everywhere,” he said. “Everyone is in disbelief.”

Tanya Breining, off Hayward, Calif., told KTVU-TV in San Francisco: “It was absolute carnage ... It looked like more than a bomb exploded.”

Another witness, Ronald Sargis, said he was sitting in the box seat area near the finish line.

“We could see the plane coming around the far turn — it was in trouble,” Sargis told KCRA-TV in Sacramento. “About six or seven boxes down from us, it impacted into the front row.”

He said the pilot appeared to do all he could to avoid crashing into the crowd. Response teams immediately went to work, Sargis said. After the crash Sargis went up a few rows into the grandstand to view the downed plane.

“It appeared to be just pulverized,” he said.

Leeward, the owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team, was a well-known racing pilot. His website says he has flown more than 120 races and served as a stunt pilot for numerous movies, including “Amelia” and “Cloud Dancer.”

In an interview with the Ocala (Fla.) Star-Banner last year, he described how he has flown 250 types of planes and has a particular fondness for the P-51, which came into the war relatively late and was used as a long-range bomber escort over Europe. Among the famous pilots of the hot new fighter was WWII double ace Chuck Yeager.

“They're more fun. More speed, more challenge. Speed, speed and more speed,” Leeward said.

Houghton described Leeward as “a good friend. Everybody knows him. It's a tight knit family. He's been here for a long, long time,” Houghton said.

The National Championship Air Races draws thousands of people every year in September to watch various military and civilian planes race. They also have attracted scrutiny in the past over safety concerns, including four pilots killed in 2007 and 2008. It was such a concern that local school officials once considered whether they should not allow student field trips at the event.

The competition is like a car race in the sky, with planes flying wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet off the sagebrush at speeds sometimes surpassing 500 mph. Pilots follow an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft.

The FAA and air race organizers spend months preparing for air races as they develop a plan involving pilot qualification, training and testing along with a layout for the course. The FAA inspects pilots' practice runs and brief pilots on the route manoeuvrs and emergency procedures.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying he was “deeply saddened” about the crash.

“My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives and with those who were wounded in this horrific tragedy,” he said. “I am so grateful to our first responders for their swift action and will continue to monitor this situation as it develops.”

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/17/us-crash-airrace-idUSTRE78F6U420110917

Reuters...

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Plane crashes at Nevada air race, deaths reported

PHOTO: "The Galloping Ghost"

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LAS VEGAS | Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:06pm EDT

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(Reuters) - A plane crashed near or into the grandstand at the Reno Air Races in northern Nevada on Friday and multiple fatalities and critical injuries were reported, a Federal Aviation Administration official said.

Video apparently taken from the stands and posted on YouTube showed a plane crashing nose-down at the show after several other planes raced by in the air, and spectators could be heard gasping: "Oh my God."

Debris billowed near the crash site, and officials then told attendees to remain where they were so emergency workers could get to the scene.

The plane appeared in the video to have crashed near the stands although the site of impact was not completely clear. Some spectators also appeared to have been sitting in front of the stands, not far from where the crash occurred.

The FAA official, spokesman Ian Gregor, said local fire officials were reporting "multiple fatalities and critical injuries" from the plane, which he said crashed near or into the grandstand. He identified the plane as possibly a P51 Mustang.

"There are people injured but we don't know the numbers yet," said Michele Anderson, a spokeswoman for Reno Mayor Robert Cashell.

A spokeswoman for Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, where some of the injured were believed taken, was not available for comment shortly after the crash

The crash was the latest fatal accident to hit an air show.

Last month, the pilot of an aerobatic airplane died in a fiery crash in front of shocked onlookers at a weekend air show in Kansas City. And in Michigan last month a wingwalker at an air show near Detroit plunged about 200 feet to his death as he tried to climb onto a helicopter in midair.

The Reno Air Races, which began in the mid-1960s, feature planes facing off in multi-lap races at an airfield north of Reno.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Cynthia Johnston in Las Vegas; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/09/reno-air-crash-death-reports.h...

Los Angeles Times...

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At least 5 killed at Reno air show, authorities say

September 16, 2011 | 6:24 pm

PHOTO: Jimmy Leeward

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At least 5 people were killed after a plane crashed into the VIP stands at an air show in Reno late Friday afternoon.

The plane crashed near the bleachers at the National Championship Air Races, said Michelle Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Reno Fire Department. The pilot was reported dead, as were four others.

Mike Houghton, president and chief executive of the Reno Air Racing Assn., said at a news conference that 40 to 50 people were injured in the crash. He identified the pilot as Jimmy Leeward, a real estate developer from Ocala, Fla., who has been racing in Reno since 1975.

The full scope of the disaster was unclear. Officials described a scene of chaos as they tried to assess the damage.

"We have five bodies out there, but they transported a whole load to hospitals," Lt. Mac Venzon of the Washoe County Sheriff's Department told The Times. "We're just trying to establish a scene and get everybody cleared out of here, and then we'll know more," he said.

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