Another Fatal Crash At Reno Air Races
POSTED: 11:20 am PDT September 14, 2007
UPDATED: 5:55 pm PDT September 14, 2007
RENO -- Two airplanes collided in the air Friday at the Reno National
Champion****p Air Races, killing one pilot and injuring another in the
third
fatal crash there in four days.
Five-time defending champion Gary Hubler, 51, Caldwell, Idaho, was killed
in the
crash shortly after 9:30 a.m. at the Stead Air****t just north of Reno,
race
officials said.
It marked the 18th fatality in the 44-year history of the air races. It
also
prompted the suspension of the competition the rest of Friday, but race
officials said it would resume Saturday as scheduled.
The pilot of the other plane involved in the accident, Jason Somes of Simi
Valley, Calif., was taken to Renown Regional Medical Center with non-life
threatening injuries. A friend said he was being treated for an eye
injury.
Hubler's plane apparently clipped the back of Somes' plane before
cra****ng.
Somes was able to land his damaged aircraft, race officials said.
"They just clipped wings barely," said Carter Fox, who witnessed the
crash. "One
immediately went down to the ground."
Two judges on the ground also suffered minor injuries from flying debris.
One
refused medical attention and the other was treated at the scene.
Students on a field trip from seven elementary schools were among the fans
at
the races when the crash occurred. Washoe County School District spokesman
Steve
Mulvenon said counselors were being made available to talk to children who
witnessed the tragedy.
The races are like a car race in the sky, following an oval path over the
air****t runway and around pylon markers at various distances and sometimes
within a few hundred feet of the ground.
Competing in the Forumla One class, Hubler was flying a Cassutt III M
single-seat plane named "Mariah," which is designed for pylon racing and
aerial
acrobatics.
Hubler started competing in the Reno races in 1984. During Thursday's
first
heat, he reached a top speed of 259 mph, according to the air races' Web
site.
Two pilots were killed in accidents on Tuesday and Thursday, the first
time
since 1993 there has been more than one fatal crash at the races in the
same
year.
"This is highly unusual," said Michael Houghton, president of the air
races.
Brad Morehouse of Afton, Wyo., was "killed instantly" when his jet crashed
about
2:45 p.m. Tuesday, touching off a small brush fire along the runway,
Houghton
said.
Morehouse, co-owner of Afton Flight Service in Wyoming, was flying an L-39
Albatross he named "Dino Juice," a jet often used for military flight
training.
He was flying in the second heat of the jet class competition. He had
finished
fourth in Wednesday's qualifying round, reaching a maximum speed of 504
mph,
race officials said.
The cause of that crash was under investigation but race officials said
the
initial indication was Morehouse may have gotten caught in the wake of a
jet he
was tailing.
Steve Dari, a pilot from Lemon Grove, Calif., was killed when his biplane
stalled shortly after takeoff during a practice run at the air races on
Tuesday.
His fatal crash had been the first at the races since 2002.
|
