http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/16/national/main20107634.shtml
RENO, Nevada - A vintage World War II-era fighter plane plunged into the grandstands Friday during a popular annual air show, killing at least three people, injuring more than 50 spectators and creating a horrific scene strewn with body parts and smoking debris.
Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman for the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority, told The Associated Press that emergency crews took a total of 56 injury victims to three hospitals. She said they also observed a number of people being transported by private vehicle, which they are not including in their count.
Kruse said of the total 56, at the time of transport, 15 were considered in critical condition, 13 were serious condition with potentially life-threatening injuries and 28 were non-serious or non-life threatening.
"This is a very large incident, probably one of the largest this community has seen in decades," Kruse told The Associated Press. "The community is pulling together to try to deal with the scope of it. The hospitals have certainly geared up and staffed up to deal with it."
Reno Air Races President and CEO Mike Houghton said at a news conference that pilot Jimmy Leeward of Ocala, Fla., died in the crash Friday after apparently losing control of the aircraft.
Leeward owned the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team and was a well-known racing pilot. His website says he had flown more than 120 races and served as a stunt pilot for numerous movies, including "Amelia" and "Cloud Dancer."
He also was a real estate salesman.
Leeward died when the P-51 Mustang he was flying crashed into a box seat area at the front of the grandstands at the National Championship Air Races at about 4:30 p.m.
Initial reports indicated that the plane crashed directly into the spectator stands. But CBS affiliate KTVN Reno reported that the plane hit a group of tables stretching out from the grandstands. Witness reports and spectator video from the scene seemed to confirm that version of events.
Jimmy Leeward, owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team and a well-known racing pilot, died during a crash at a Reno. Nev., air race show Sept. 16, 2011.
Witnesses speaking to KTVN described a grisly scene. A spokesman for the event called it a "mass casualty situation." Video showed a chaotic scene with several people apparently badly wounded. Spectators were asked to leave the event immediately after the crash so that rescuers could do their work. Military personnel on the scene were also assisting.
KRNV-TV weatherman Jeff Martinez, who was just outside the air race grounds at the time, said the plane veered to the right and then "it just augered straight into the ground."
"You saw pieces and parts going everywhere," he said. "Everyone is in disbelief."
Another witness, Ronald Sargis, said he was sitting in the box seat area near the finish line when the crash occurred.
"We could see the plane coming around the far turn — it was in trouble," Sargis told KCRA-TV in Sacramento. "About six or seven boxes down from us, it impacted into the front row."
He said the pilot seemed to do everything he could to avoid crashing into the crowd. Response teams immediately went to work, Sargis said.
"They put out a call for any medically trained or police trained personnel to come and help. Within about two minutes the ambulance crews were loading people up and transporting them away."
After the crash Sargis went up a few rows into the grandstand to view the downed plane.
"It appeared to be just pulverized," he said.
Draper identified the pilot of the P-51 Mustang as Jimmy Leeward of Florida.
Leeward is the owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team and is a well-known racing pilot. His website says he has flown more than 120 races and served as a stunt pilot for numerous movies, including "Amelia" and "Cloud Dancer."
In an interview with the Ocala Star-Banner in Florida last year, he described how he has flown 250 types of planes and has a particular fondness for the P-51.
"They're more fun. More speed, more challenge. Speed, speed and more speed," he said.
The National Championship Air Races draws thousands of people every year in September to watch various military and civilian planes race.
The races have attracted scrutiny in the past over safety concerns, including four pilots killed in 2007 and 2008. It was such a concern that local school officials once considered whether they should not allow student field trips at the event.
The competition is like a car race in the sky, with planes flying wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet (15 meters) off the sagebrush at speeds sometimes surpassing 500 mph. Pilots follow an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft.
Democratic Sen. Harry Reid issued a statement saying he was "deeply saddened" about the crash.
"My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives and with those who were wounded in this horrific tragedy," he said. "I am so grateful to our first responders for their swift action and will continue to monitor this situation as it develops."
