2011 Reno Air Races crash

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2011 Reno Air Races crash

The Galloping Ghost photographed before the accident

Accident

Date September 16, 2011

Summary Mechanical failure

Reno, Nevada, U.S.
Site
39°39′37.12″N 119°52′40.81″WCoordinates: 
39°39′37.12″N 119°52′40.81″W

Total fatalities 11

Total injuries 69

Aircraft

Aircraft type North American P-51D Mustang

Aircraft name The Galloping Ghost

Operator Aero Trans Corp.

Registration NX79111

Flight origin Reno Stead Airport, Reno, Nevada, U.S.

Destination Reno Stead Airport

Occupants 1

Crew 1

Fatalities 1
 Survivors 0

Ground casualties

Ground fatalities 10

Ground injuries 69

On September 16, 2011, The Galloping Ghost, a highly modified North American P-51D

Mustang racing aircraft, crashed into spectators while competing at the Reno Air Races,
killing the pilot, James K. "Jimmy" Leeward, and ten people on the ground. Sixty-nine
more people on the ground were injured.[1][2] It was the third-deadliest airshow disaster in
U.S. history, following accidents in 1972 and 1951.[3]

Contents

 1Accident
 2Aircraft
 3Previous incidents
 4Investigation
 5References
 6External links

Accident[edit]
James Leeward, 74, and his P-51 Mustang, The Galloping Ghost, were in third place
and had just rounded pylon number 8 when the aircraft abruptly pitched up, rolled
inverted, then nosedived.[4] The aircraft hit the apron at over 400 miles per hour
(640 km/h) in front of the grandstands in an area containing box seating, disintegrating
on impact. There was no fire.
Seven people, including the pilot, died at the crash site; [5] four died later in the hospital.[6]
[7]
 The weekend's remaining races at the Reno Air Races were canceled.

Aircraft[edit]
The Galloping Ghost was a highly modified former military plane that in 2010 had come
out of retirement after undergoing major modifications, including removal of the
underbelly radiator and installation of a "boil-off" cooling system, as well as other
modifications that the owner described as designed to make the plane more efficient.
The former United States Air Force aircraft, serial number 44-15651, was owned by
Aero Trans Corp in Ocala, Florida.[8] The wings had been clipped a further 3 ft (0.9 m)
each side on top of the 4 ft (1.2 m) reduction in span earlier in its life.[9]
The aircraft had a long history of successful competition in air races dating back to
the National Air Races from 1946 to 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio.[10] It was flown by a series
of pilots under a variety of names, including Miss Candace from 1969 to 1978
and Jeannie in 1981.[11]
Leeward called the modifications of the plane "radical." He said the oil system was
similar to an oil cooling system in the Space Shuttle.[9][12] The canopy was about the size
of the ones on Formula One aircraft. The modifications were meant to improve
aerodynamics by reducing drag and hence increase top speed. [9]

Previous incidents[edit]
On September 18, 1970, the airplane (then known as Miss Candace) crashed while
attempting an emergency landing caused by an engine failure during that year's Reno
Air Races at Reno-Stead Airport. During the landing the plane's longer propeller,
modified for racing, clipped the runway surface, causing the plane to drift off the edge of
the runway, collapsing part of the landing gear, causing only minor injuries to pilot Dr.
Cliff Cummins.[13]
In 1998, another modified P-51 Mustang, Voodoo Chile, lost a left trim tab during the
Reno Air Races. The pilot, Bob "Hurricane" Hannah, reported that the airplane pitched
up, subjecting him to more than 10 g and knocking him unconscious. When he regained
consciousness, the plane had climbed to more than 9,000 feet (2,750 m), and he
brought it in for a safe landing.[14][15] This aircraft (having been renamed to Voodoo) was in
attendance at the 2011 race, and nearby at the time of the accident.
In 1999, another highly modified P-51 called Miss Ashley II, piloted by Gary Levitz,
experienced rudder flutter during an unlimited race at the Reno Air Races. The airframe
broke up, killing Levitz.[16]

Investigation[edit]

NTSB photo showing part of the elevator trim tab

The day after the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began
examining whether part of the empennage had come off before the crash.[17] A
photograph taken just before the crash showed the airplane inverted and part of the left
elevator trim tab missing.[17][18]
On October 21, 2011, Federal crash investigators with the NTSB said that they found no
readable onboard video amid the debris of the racing plane. However, they were still
attempting to extract information from an onboard data memory card found among
damaged aircraft components and other debris scattered over more than two acres
following the crash, as well as hundreds of photos and dozens of videos provided by
spectators.[19]
The NTSB thoroughly investigated the extensive modifications made to the airplane.
The modifications had made the aircraft lighter and reduced drag but decreased
stability. Leeward took the plane to 530 mph (850 km/h) during the race, about 40 mph
(65 km/h) faster than he had gone previously. [20] There was evidence of extreme stress
on the airframe demonstrated by buckling of the fuselage aft of the wing and gaps
appearing between the fuselage and the canopy during the flight (visible in high-
resolution photographs taken by spectators).
The investigation report, released in August 2012, found that the probable cause of the
crash was reused single-use locknuts in the left elevator trim tab system that loosened.
This led to a fatigue crack in an attachment screw and allowed the trim tab to flutter.
This flutter caused the trim tab link assembly to fail which led to the loss of control of the
aircraft. Untested and undocumented modifications to the airplane contributed to the
accident. Particularly, the right trim tab had been fixed in place. Had both trim tabs been
operational, the loss of the left trim tab alone may not have caused the loss of control.
When the trim tab failed, Leeward experienced 17 g, which quickly incapacitated him
and likely rendered him unconscious.[21][22]
In 2012, the NTSB released seven safety recommendations to be applied to future air
races. These included course design and layout further away from the spectators
stands, pre-race inspections, airworthiness of aircraft modifications, FAA guidance, pilot
g-force awareness, and ramp safety.[23]