Tragedy in Reno
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by Erooster
The national media jumped on the story of the three deaths at the Reno Air Races. While it tells the story, it does not give the specifics of an air racing fan. While I, or any other person can say, "This is what happened...", the following descriptions are merely hypothesis or suggestions of what actually happened. As was pointed out by Renoairboss, "We still see science using these terms rather than calling them facts."
The initial crash, that of Race # 3 Rose Peregrine, happened on Tuesday 11 Sept. The accident happened outside of the air races, Pilot Steve Dari took his plane out after the close of qualifying. According to sources, inside the biplane class, other pilots asked the FAA to re-inspect the aircraft. It was the feeling of other competitors that the aircraft was unsafe. In what the national media called a stalled aircraft, Race # 3, took off down runway 8. At roughly 100', the plane's engine coughed and caught fire. Dari crashed into the desert soon thereafter. Fortunately, due to the time of the crash, the event was seen by a relative few people.
On Thursday 13 Sept., during the first day of racing, Brad Morehouse was killed when his L-39, Race # 4 Dino Juice, got caught in the vorticities behind Race # 00 Buckeye, a T-2 aircraft. Without getting too technical, the two aircraft were fighting for third place behind an L-29, Race # 77, (second) and a T-33, Race # 51 Specline Special, leading the race. Race # 51 rounded pylon 8, the following aircraft, Race # 77 was taking his cues from the T-33 and missed the turn causing him to fly off course and cut the deadline. Rounding the pylon next was Race # 00, followed by Morehouse's Race # 4. The left wing of Dino Juice entered the right vorticity behind the leading Buckeye. The counterclockwise motion of the vorticity pushed the wing down, causing the aircraft to roll to the left. When Brad overcorrected, to the right, his plane was sucked into the vorticity cone behind the Buckeye, resulting in his position with the plane upside down. The combining vorticities pushed the plane into the ground.
On Friday 14 Sept., two IF1 aircraft were involved in an accident that resulted in the death of one pilot and sending a second to the hospital.
During normal racing, the aircraft take off from west to east. IF1 aircraft are lined up on the runway and take off heading towards Pylon 1. On days when the wind is blowing from west to east, the aircraft take off heading to the west, go around scatter pylons and then head towards Pylon 1, this was the case on Friday. Upon completing the exit from the tight left hand turn around the scatter pylons, Pilot Gary Hubler, in Race # 95 Maiah, had the inside line with Pilot Jason Somes, in Race # 4 Alley Cat, trailing on his right. The veteran, Hubler, mistakenly headed towards an inside guide pylon (for another class) instead of Pylon 1, while Somes headed for the correct pylon. When Hubler realized his mistake, he turned right to dodge to the correct side of the pylon. The path that he took to the pylon caused his aircraft to collide with the aircraft of Somes. The exact nature of the crash was undisclosed to the general public, but witnesses to the video said that the propeller of Hubler's aircraft hit the canopy of Somes aircraft. He then went over the top of Race # 4 and into the ground. Somes was able to land Alley Cat, and walk away from the crash. Somes had injuries to his right ankle and right eye socket.
The loss of these three pilots had a sobering effect on all persons at the event. The remaining of the racing was canceled on Friday, with only the entertainers and military aircraft taking to the skies.
At the end of most racing days the crowd leaves Stead Airport with a joyous feeling. However, on Friday, the crowd, pilots, crew, vendors, and other entertainers left with heavy hearts and doubts whether the races would continue. Luckily, the various race class presidents made the correct call and kept the FAA from stepping in to make a call of their own.
