This is a video of the tragic crash at the 2011 Reno Air Races.
It pitched violently upward just as Galloping Ghost did. Upload media Wikipedia: Instance of: sports festival: Location: Reno Stead Airport, Nevada: Inception: 1964; Significant event: 2011 Reno Air Races crash; official website: 39° 39′ 39.24″ N, 119° 52′ 41.44″ W: Authority control Q1274152. "From what I understand he hit 22.5 g's, which no pilot can take," Chiavetta says. Today the National Transportation Safety Board released its first report on the Reno Air Race crash that killed P-51 pilot Jimmy Leeward and 10 others. So, like any pilot in this situation, Jimmy Leeward would have engaged a flap on the back of one of the plane's elevators (the horizontal moving surface on the tail).
The accident happens in the worst possible part of the entire 8-mile course—just before the spectator stand, leaving the aircraft on a collision course with the event's 7500 spectators.The NTSB report puts the final result in cold, official language: "The airplane descended in an extremely nose-low attitude and collided with the ground in the box seat area near the center of the grandstand seating area." The back-and-forth flexing can quickly cause severe metal fatigue; think of bending a paper clip back and forth until it breaks. The modifications had made the aircraft lighter and reduced drag, but decreased stability. The Reno Air Races, officially known as the National Championship Air Races, is a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that takes place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada.
Leeward's plane, the Galloping Ghost, had already completed several laps and was heading for the home pylon in a steep left turn when, the NTSB report says, "witnesses reported and photographic evidence indicates that a piece of the airframe separated." From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository.
When the trim tab failed, Leeward experienced 17 g which quickly incapacitated him and likely rendered him unconscious.Furthermore, In 2012 the NTSB released seven safety recommendations to be applied to future air races. Untested and undocumented modifications to the airplane contributed to the accident.Particularly, the right trim tab had been fixed in place. Four died later in the hospitalBy buckling of the fuselage aft of the wing and gaps appearing between the fuselage and the canopy during flightHowever, the investigation, 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.
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.In 2012 the NTSB released seven safety recommendations to be applied to future air races. I think it's one of the clearer videos of the crash, so I hope it helps bring people peace.
Called the "elevator trim tab," this piece, in effect, reduces the elevator's angle of attack and thereby reduces the downward pressure.To steady the P-51 at full racing speed, the trim tab has to deploy outward nearly as far as it can.
He said the oil system was similar to an oil cooling system in the Space Shuttle.On September 18, 1970, the airplane (then known as The NTSB thoroughly investigated the extensive modifications made to the airplane. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io On September 16, 2011, at the Reno Air Races, a North American P-51D Mustang crashed into spectators, killing the pilot and 10 people on the ground and injuring 69 others. By the time he came to, his plane had climbed to 9000 feet.Andy Chiavetta, who worked with the pit crew of another Unlimited racer, says that according to telemetry broadcast from the Galloping Ghost to Leeward's team, the g load was far higher than that.
Back in 1998, a similar accident struck another P-51 at Reno, Voodoo Chile, during an Unlimited race in 1998.
Above all, the plane remained intact, despite the severe g loads.Had Leeward's plane come apart, the situation would have been even deadlier.