Friday's accident, which event organizers suggested stemmed from a mechanical problem, killed a 74-year-old pilot and two spectators and injured more than 50 others. According to the Reno Journal-Gazette, before Friday there had been 17 deaths at the Reno show since its launch in 1964, but no spectators had been killed or seriously injured.
The annual event is held north of Reno's commercial airport and was created to draw tourists during the slow month of September. It features several types of planes which race around pylons in the air like runners on a track and draws about 200,000 viewers, the Los Angeles Times reports.
John Cudahy, president of the International Council of Air Shows, told the Sacramento Bee that there have been no aircraft-related spectator fatalities at a North American air show in decades. (The worst air-show crash in history, says The Daily Beast, was at the Ramstein air base in Germany in 1988 when the Italian air force team, Frecce Tricolori, flying a stunt called "the pierced heart," ended with three of the jets colliding and slicing through a crowd of spectators, killing 70 and seriously injuring 346 others.)
The event, which is held north of Reno's commercial airport, is like a cross between a race in the sky and an air show. The races themselves feature three types of planes, which race around pylons in the air like runners on a track.
The event was created in the 1960s to draw tourists during the slow month of September, and has grown into a huge event that draws some 200,000 flying enthusiasts and local dignitaries. The event was estimated by the Northern Nevada Business Weekly to generate nearly $70 million for a state that has been walloped by the bad economy.The annual event is held north of Reno's commercial airport and was created to draw tourists during the slow month of September. It features three types of planes which race around pylons in the air like runners on a track and draws about 200,000 viewers, the Los Angeles Times reportsJohn Cudahy, the president of the International Council of Air Shows, told the Sacramento Bee that there have been no aircraft-related spectator fatalities at a North American air show in decades. (The worst air-show crash in history, says The Daily Beast, was at the Ramstein air base in Germany in 1988 when the Italian air force team, Frecce Tricolori, flying a stunt called "the pierced heart," ended with three of the jets colliding and slicing through a crowd of spectators, killing 70 and seriously injuring 346 others.)
Cudahy told the Times that air shows operate under different federal rules than air races, using a course that runs parallel to the viewing area, not in an oval like those used in Reno.
"Our rules are more about maintaining a separation difference from the crowd," he said. "Those rules have provided something close to complete protection for air show spectators."
Federal aviation officials and air race organizers spend months preparing for the Reno races. All pilots must have current medical certificates and demonstrate their competency before they are allowed to participate, Ian Gregor, the FAA spokesman for the Pacific Division, told the Times.
The FAA also inspects the course and proposed spectator area for races to prevent a crash or collision from injuring viewers. In August, the FAA canceled a race in Camarillo, Calif. because of concerns about spectator safety. On Tuesday, race officials barred six of the 21 jets scheduled to race in Reno after consulting with federal aviation officials, concerned about engine modifications, according to the Gazette-Journal.
"They've been talking about the dangers of the air races over the last decade," U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev, said at the scene Friday night. "I would hate to think of what I've enjoyed of the air races over the many, many years is that this would be the end to an event like this."
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