As the number of people killed in a horrific crash at an air race in Reno continues to climb, members of the 10-person team from Anoka County who competed in the race are remembering the event and one of those killed, 74-year-old pilot Jimmy Leeward.
The number of people killed in the crash continues to climb, with medical examiners confirming the 11th victim is a 71-year-old woman from Kansas. Yet, for Tom Lymburn, it isn't his first time seeing a competition turn into a catastrophe.
“I've had it happen before when I've been there, and you never get used to it,” said Lymburn.
Lymburn is part of the 10 person team from Anoka County who competed in the Reno Air Race. On Friday, their 1949 Hawker C Furry, known as Sawbone, reached 425 mph. The team qualified for the next round of racing and was in the race when another plane crashed.
“Our aircraft had just gone by, and now we were just watching for Jimmy as he came across the last pillion,” said Craig Schiller, another member of the Sawbone team.
“The minute he started to climb, I thought, 'Mayday! Mayday!' He was having an issue, he was climbing out of the area to a safe environment ... and that didn't happen.”
Schiller said they were watching from the ground and were about 300 yards away from where their fellow competitor slammed into the crowd. More than 70 people were injured and 11 hve died so far, including Leeward.
“I've known Jimmy for about 9 years,” said Schiller. “He’s a very modest individual, very excellent pilot.”
‘You could not have predicted it,” said Lymburn, “and you could not have had a more experienced man behind the throttle.”
In the days since the crash, the group has studied pictures circulating on the Internet. An Associated Press photographer captured the trim tab missing from the plane’s tail as it went down. Another photo shows the pilot out of view.
“He probably did as much as he could to point the aircraft in the right direction,” said Schiller “But at some point, more than likely, passed out and then the aircraft just did what it wanted to do.”
The Sawbone team is waiting for the final determination from the NTSB on the cause of the crash, but said they believe a crash of this magnitude happens only once in a lifetime.
“I look at it as: We will learn from what happened. We will find out what happened and apply that to other aircraft in the fleet, and next year we will race again,” said Lymburn.
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