Nevada air race crash victims mourned in Reno

RENO, Nev. — More than 400 people gathered Sunday night to pay their respects to the victims of a deadly crash at an air race and to dedicate a tree that the state's governor said would serve as a reminder of the "shared humanity" of the heroes who responded to the tragedy.
The 74-year-old pilot, Jimmy Leeward, of Ocala, Fla., was among the 11 people killed Sept. 16 in the crash during the National Championship Air Races at Reno-Stead Airport.


Mayor Bob Cashell said the memorial was important not only to show support for the families of the victims but also for "the community to begin the healing process."
Rabbi Teri Appleby, who was among the clergy that spoke at the interfaith memorial, agreed that the gathering was important for "all of us in Reno and Sparks who are still in shock after this tragedy."


A city spokeswoman, Barbara Dicianno, put the number of attendees at about 500.


The mourners, each given small white candles as they entered the park, huddled on the hill, most of them standing, to form a circle around the speakers and a string quartet that played bits of soft music.


A lone singer performed the national anthem a cappella around the start of the event.


The service climaxed at sunset as a guitarist accompanied another vocalist in a rendition of "Amazing Grace" while the mourners all silently lit their candles, which flickered in a gentle breeze that rustled the surrounding trees.


Displayed beside the podium was a framed artist's rendering of the single-engine plane that crashed, a modified P-51 Mustang, depicted flying through a cloud-blotched sky, with the words, "In memory of Jimmy Leeward" -- in tribute to the pilot who died.


Investigators are still trying to determine what caused Leeward, 74, to lose control of the aircraft while competing at the 48th Annual National Air Championship Races.


The plane plowed into a box-seating area in front of the grandstand, leaving a 3-foot-deep crater in the tarmac. Besides Leeward, 10 people on the ground were killed, and another 66 seriously injured.


Leeward, a Florida-based real estate developer well-known in air racing circles, had flown as a stunt pilot in movies.


Federal safety regulators have said they are examining evidence that a piece of the aircraft broke loose shortly before the plane plunged to the ground. A photograph snapped seconds before the crash appears to show a plane component falling off.


The accident took place a day before another vintage plane crashed in a fireball during an aerobatic demonstration at a West Virginia air show, killing the pilot.


The two incidents have raised new questions about the safety of such events.


A total of 30 people have been killed in the Reno Air Races since they began in 1964, though city officials say this year marked the first spectator deaths.