P-51 crashes into crowd at Reno Air Races- 75 inured

[James48843]

At least 75 reported injured, and some killed, when a P-51 at the Reno Air Races plunged into the crowd.

http://news.yahoo.com/official-more-75-injured-air-race-crash-004947158.html?cmp=fb&csShare=true

 

[James48843]

Re: P-51 crashes into crowd at Reno Air Races- 75 injured

aftermath:

 

[Aviator_Guy]

Such a tragedy!! I'm a pilot and it's sad day for aviation… I'm sure the FAA and NTSB will get a handle on this horrible accident… I wonder if they require G-Suits for those races? It could be a GLOC...

 

[James48843]

Such a tragedy!! I'm a pilot and it's sad day for aviation… I'm sure the FAA and NTSB will get a handle on this horrible accident… I wonder if they require G-Suits for those races? It could be a GLOC...

Highly unlikely.

The plane just came out of a total strip down to nothing rebuild from the rivets up. It appears it had only flown a few hours since total rebuild. Very likely we'll never know what snapped- One report that I read said he issued a mayday in the last seconds. If true, then no gloc.

 

[driz]

Highly unlikely.

The plane just came out of a total strip down to nothing rebuild from the rivets up. It appears it had only flown a few hours since total rebuild. Very likely we'll never know what snapped- One report that I read said he issued a mayday in the last seconds. If true, then no gloc.

I saw the still of it just about 30' up in a power dive. It was an F8 Navy Bearcat, type which came into service just a tad too late to see combat in WW2. I'm surprised that the media keeps saying even now that it was a P 51 unless someone snookered CNN into a photosubed picture. It was a tad "Perfect". They did say it appeared that the pilot tried to choose the lesser evil and hit in the box seat section instead of the crowded stand. Lucky for the fans in the bleachers, double lucky actually since the plane vaporized on impact. If the fuel would have gone up during that time they would have likely been fried right there. Look at the video slow motion and it reminds me of the nuke reactor dome test where the rail shot the F4 into the side of it and it makes tin foil, smoke and dust, nothing more. Too bad for those hurt but it could have been so much worse.
So now we all wonder what the wizards will dream up to keep us all safer at airshows????:suspicious: Everybody knows it's about as likely to get hurt at an airshow or race as it is to get struck by lightning in February in Montanawhich is unfortunately very true.

 

[James48843]

I saw the still of it just about 30' up in a power dive. It was an F8 Navy Bearcat, type which came into service just a tad too late to see combat in WW2. I'm surprised that the media keeps saying even now that it was a P 51 unless someone snookered CNN into a photosubed picture. It was a tad "Perfect".

No, it wasn't an F-8 Bearcat. It was a P-51 that Jimmy Leeward altered.

A Bearcat has a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engine. "Galloping Ghost" had the standard in-line Packard V-1650-7 V-12 engine.

See
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...namic-faster/2011/09/17/gIQAxjiIaK_story.html

Specs: http://www2.leewardairranch.com/racing/galloping-ghost-specs

They did say it appeared that the pilot tried to choose the lesser evil and hit in the box seat section instead of the crowded stand.

Not sure who is saying that, but the video shows the pilot made no control input changes after it veered upward.

Lucky for the fans in the bleachers, double lucky actually since the plane vaporized on impact.

His speed at impact was somewhere north of 400 miles per hour. All planes "vaporize" when they impact at that kind of speed.

If the fuel would have gone up during that time they would have likely been fried right there.

The fuel, at 400 miles per hour impact, simply vaporizes and does not typically burn because it does not maintain sufficient fuel/air mixture to burn.

Look at the video slow motion and it reminds me of the nuke reactor dome test where the rail shot the F4 into the side of it and it makes tin foil, smoke and dust, nothing more. Too bad for those hurt but it could have been so much worse.

Luckily it wasn't.

So now we all wonder what the wizards will dream up to keep us all safer at airshows????:suspicious: Everybody knows it's about as likely to get hurt at an airshow or race as it is to get struck by lightning in February in Montanawhich is unfortunately very true.

Excuse me, but the reason it's rare that spectators get hurt, is the amount of time spent by FAA Inspectors, working with air show managers, to intentionally minimize the risk to people on the ground. The FAA requires extensive planning in advance, and prohibits flight over the top of spectators for this very reason. Those rules went into place decades ago, and each and every airshow in the US goes through extensive review to reduce the likelyhood of someone on the ground being killed. It isn't because the airshow people did it- it's because the FAA- the government-- made rules and enforces them.

 

[James48843]

A view of the airplane remains, a split second after impact-



Early indications show a loss of the elevator trim tab in this photo.

Still very preliminary- but this story includes the first statement from the NTSB (That's our government!) investigators holding a press conference.

 

[driz]

Yup that is a P51. Look at the still though and the shortened bubble fastback customized design and the illusion of the wing slightly below it make the silhouette more that of an F8 with its stubby design and fat yet tapered radial nose. My bad. It's obvious from the picture that the trim tab broke away on one side. In any other scenario but that I doubt it would have caused much more than a difficult landing but at that speed there are things in there that can get jammed / broken / bent when that breaks violently like that causing an elevator to lock or stick. If the elevators were working they would have easily overridden any effect of an errant trim tab. Sucks either way .
I still won't give the FAA all the hooras for saving everyone else though. We all know that those linear tracks and safety setbacks only offer a calculated margin of safety for bystanders and nothing more. Beyond that it's all illusion as something going that fast is going far beyond any safety zone if it decides to. I'll still put my money on the pilot who in every other airshow crash where there is a tiny bit of control left to him and he / she is conscious picked the least damaging place to stick it. Those P51's can be a real killer even in their stock form. Like any fighter plane they will flop into a violent spin at the drop of a hat, especially at low speed. I watched one crash in 1994 in Malone, NY at an airshow after the low and slow 2 plane "show pass". He was slow in a climbing turn and must have caught the leads wake and wham was gone almost straight down in what looked like more of a "Lumpchavuck" which I have no idea how to begin to spell. Basically end over end tumble best describes it. It didn't even look real.