2011 Reno Air Races crash

2011 Reno Air Races crash occurred on September 16, 2011, at the Reno Air Races, when a North American P-51D Mustang piloted by James K. "Jimmy" Leeward crashed into spectators, killing nine people including the pilot, and injuring at least 69.
Leeward, the 74-year-old pilot of a North American P-51D Mustang called "The Galloping Ghost", was in second place and had just rounded the last pylon when the airplane abruptly pitched up, rolled inverted, then pitched down. The aircraft hit the tarmac in the front of the grandstands in an area containing box seating.
Seven people died on the tarmac after the crash. The weekend's remaining races at the Reno Air Races were cancelled.
At 9 a.m. the morning after the crash, Renown Health hospitals reported that of the 35 patients treated, two died, bringing the total deaths to nine. In addition, six were in critical condition, two serious, five fair, 1 good, and 19 had been discharged.




Aircraft


The Mustang, named "The Galloping Ghost" was a highly modified former military plane that had recently come out of retirement after undergoing major modifications, including shortening of the wings and appendages in addition to other major modifications that the owner describes as designed to make the plane more efficient. S/n 44-15651 was owned by Aero Trans Corp. DBA in Ocala, Florida.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. It was flown by a series of pilots under a variety of names, including "Miss Candace" from 1969 to 1978 and "Jeannie" in 1981. On September 18, 1970, the airplane crashed after an engine failure during an air show at Reno Stead Airport and landed short of the runway, with only minor injuries to the pilot.
In a YouTube video, and further detailed in an aviation publication the plane is described by Leeward as highly modified, using a canopy from a formula 1 airplane, in addition to a number of modifications designed to improve aerodynamics and increase the plane's top speed. The objective was to create a plane that did not need to use as much power as the result of the modifications. He describes the modifications of the plane as "radical," describing the oil system as similar to the oil cooling system in the Space Shuttle.