Death toll rises to 9 in Nevada plane crash
- 13 years ago
Authorities say the death toll in the crash of a vintage World War Two fighter plane near the grandstand at a Nevada air race has risen to nine.
Two people died of their injuries at local hospitals, seven died on the tarmac following the crash on Friday night. Officials previously said at least three people were killed in the crash.
The pilot, Jimmy Leeward, 74, was among those killed when his P-51 Mustang dubbed the "Galloping Ghost" crashed into a box seat area in front of the main grandstand,
Organizers suggested there may have been a mechanical problem with the plane.
SOUNDBITE: Mark Rosekind, National Transportation Safety Board, saying: (English):
"A component has been recovered in the area where that was observed. But I think it's critical at this point to know that we have not identified the component. It will be examined so we don't really know what the component is or even if it came from this particular aircraft. We are very clearly going to focus on that, and that's part of the factual information gathering that's going on right now."
The Reno Air Races, which began in the mid-1960s, features planes facing off in races at an airfield north of the city.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters
Two people died of their injuries at local hospitals, seven died on the tarmac following the crash on Friday night. Officials previously said at least three people were killed in the crash.
The pilot, Jimmy Leeward, 74, was among those killed when his P-51 Mustang dubbed the "Galloping Ghost" crashed into a box seat area in front of the main grandstand,
Organizers suggested there may have been a mechanical problem with the plane.
SOUNDBITE: Mark Rosekind, National Transportation Safety Board, saying: (English):
"A component has been recovered in the area where that was observed. But I think it's critical at this point to know that we have not identified the component. It will be examined so we don't really know what the component is or even if it came from this particular aircraft. We are very clearly going to focus on that, and that's part of the factual information gathering that's going on right now."
The Reno Air Races, which began in the mid-1960s, features planes facing off in races at an airfield north of the city.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters