A tiny part of the plane might have gone missing. Competitive planes such as Jimmy Leeward’s Galloping Ghost are often highly-customized to help them move quicker and more efficiently. One of those part is the “elevator trim tab,” a piece of the plane that helps neutralize controls during a flight — something which comes in handy more than usual if, say, you regularly fly more than 500 miles per hour, like you might in a racing plane. In planes like Leeward’s, not having that piece would have made maneuvering the plane very difficult, and may have forced the plane to pitch severely upward. It might have even caused him to black out just before the crash itself. While the NTSB’s own report was vague, those in the aviation community suggest this combination of things caused Leeward to black out, leading to the crash. In the photo above, the part appears to be missing from the plane, so it’s entirely feasible. source
I’m not aware of a lot of aircraft having it, this is the first one I came across.NTSB lead investigator Howard Plagens • Discussing the “significant” finding of recording devices (commonly called a “black box”) on the vintage WWII fighter plane involved in Friday’s Reno Air Races crash. Due to the nature of the aircraft, it was a bit of a surprise to find it. On top of the data-recording device, there was a camera that pointed outside of the plane. This will be significant as the regulatory agency puts together the pieces of the deadly crash, which killed nine — seven on impact (including the pilot) and two at local hospitals. source (via • follow)
Reno Air Races press conference happening now: A victim’s currently discussing his injuries from the accident.
Coming soon: 3:45 p.m. EDT NTSB press conference on Reno Air Races crash. We’ll note highlights after. EDIT: Time pushed back to 4:45. Image updated to reflect this.
Journalists were given a 20-minute tour of the crash site on Saturday where a plane dived into the crowd at the Reno air race one day before. The crash killed nine people and injured over 50.
The large crater we mentioned in our last post is very obvious here.
» Crater left by plane crash: A three-foot deep, eight-foot wide crater was left by the plane crash, according to Chief investigator Howard Plagens. Meanwhile, NTSB member Mark Rosekind says that the focus right now is gathering factual information, not analyzing it. He says that although the crash took seconds to happen, retracing its steps will take months. (information gathered via live press conference)
Mark Rosekind of the NTSB speaks during a press conference regarding the Reno Air Races crash on Saturday. Check out our recap of the press conference over here.
(Source: abclocal.go.com)
Ward Howes, the photographer who shot the moment-of-impact picture we reblogged last night, also shot a number of other photos in a series — it appeared he set his camera on sport photography mode and was able to tell a full story with his photos. We felt they’d make a good photoset to show all-in-one. The Reno Gazette-Journal has more photos of the crash. Thanks to our friend Megan Lavey for the tip. (Ward Howes via AP)
In 2007, I was...
I started tumblr when I was at one of the lowest points of...
Exclusive: How the Syrian Electronic Army hacked the...
soon
Yahumblr.
Google found the...
![producermatthew:
Photo by the Associated Press of the Reno, Nevada air show crash on Friday, September 16, 2011.
The pilot of a vintage WWII fighter plane nose-dived into a group of spectators at the Reno air show Friday evening. Eyewitnesses reported seeing bodies and body parts scattered throughout the runway.
Several graphic photos, including this one of a man with a severed limb, show the horror of the crash. Early estimates say three people have died and over 50 have been injured, some critically. [AP Photo]
Unbelievable timing. This is soon to be an award-winning photo.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrniy60Pjw1qz5ew6o1_500.jpg)
Photo by the Associated Press of the Reno, Nevada air show crash on Friday, September 16, 2011.
The pilot of a vintage WWII fighter plane nose-dived into a group of spectators at the Reno air show Friday evening. Eyewitnesses reported seeing bodies and body parts scattered throughout the runway.
Several graphic photos, including this one of a man with a severed limb, show the horror of the crash. Early estimates say three people have died and over 50 have been injured, some critically. [AP Photo]
Unbelievable timing. This is soon to be an award-winning photo.
Some disgustingly unfortunate overlay ads on the photo gallery of the air show crash in Reno. Why am I not surprised this is a Gannett Company? (posted at the Reno Gazette Journal)
That’s pretty rough, but not as rough as the organization of the article. It’s 23 pages. Seriously. Who’s going to be able to click through through that, even people following the story? Obviously breaking news and everything, but this is really pushing it for even the most ardent news readers. There’s some great journalism in there, we’re sure, but we have to imagine that the paper’s going to have to have some conversations about the organization of their site in the near-future. Having a stronger attack plan in the case of a large breaking news story would help prevent issues like this. (EDIT for additional thoughts: We don’t want to be unfair to them, because we can’t imagine what they’re going through right now. But we hope this event teaches them some lessons for the future.)
Reno Air Races press conference: The official doesn’t seem to have a lot of details. The event is cancelled. That’s governor Brian Sandoval right behind him. EDIT: Two interesting notes. First, Jimmy Leeward was 74, not 80, and Sandoval says that over 100 spectators with medical training helped immediately after the crash.
The Galloping Ghost - P-51D-15NA: A brief history of the plane that crashed in Reno.
A plane with a long history and a tragic end.
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
