2011 Reno Air Races crash

NX79111, The Galloping Ghost, the accident aircraft, photographed at the 2010 Reno Air Races.
Accident summary
Date	Friday, September 16, 2011 4:15 p.m. PST
Summary	Mechanical failure
Site	Reno, Nevada, U.S. 173839°39′37.12″N 119°52′40.81″W / 39.6603111°N 119.8780028°W / 39.6603111; -119.8780028Coordinates: 39°39′37.12″N 119°52′40.81″W / 39.6603111°N 119.8780028°W / 39.6603111; -119.8780028
Crew	1
Fatalities	11 (including 10 on the ground).
Injuries (non-fatal)	69 (ground)
Aircraft type	North American P-51D Mustang
Aircraft name	The Galloping Ghost
Operator	Jimmy Leeward
Registration	NX79111
Flight origin	Reno Stead Airport
Destination	Reno Stead Airport

On September 16, 2011 at the Reno Air Races, a North American P-51D Mustang crashed into spectators, killing the pilot and 10 people on the ground and injuring 69 others. The aircraft was named The Galloping Ghost and was flown by James K. "Jimmy" Leeward. It was the third-deadliest airshow disaster in U.S. history, following accidents in 1972 and 1951.

Leeward, 74, and his Mustang, The Galloping Ghost, were in third place and had just rounded pylon number 8 when the airplane abruptly pitched up, rolled inverted, then pitched down. The aircraft hit the tarmac in front of the grandstands in an area containing box seating, and disintegrated.

Seven people, including the pilot, died at the crash site; four died later in the hospital. The weekend's remaining races at the Reno Air Races were cancelled.

The day after the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began examining whether part of the empennage had come off before the crash. A photograph taken just before the crash showed the airplane inverted and part of the left elevator trim tab missing.

On October 21, 2011, Federal crash investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said that they found no readable onboard video amid the debris of the racing plane. However, they were still attempting to extract information from an onboard data memory card found among damaged aircraft components and other debris scattered over more than two acres following the crash, as well as hundreds of photos and dozens of videos provided by spectators.

In 2012 the NTSB released seven safety recommendations to be applied to future air races. These included course design and layout, pre-race inspections, airworthiness of aircraft modifications, FAA guidance, pilot g-force awareness, and ramp safety.

The Mustang, named The Galloping Ghost, was a highly modified former military plane that in 2010 had come out of retirement after undergoing major modifications, including removal of the underbelly radiator and installation of a "boil off" cooling system, as well as other modifications that the owner describes as designed to make the plane more efficient. The former United States Air Force 44-15651 was owned by Aero Trans Corp., DBA in Ocala, Florida. The wings had been clipped a further 3 ft (0.91 m) each side on top of the 4 ft (1.2 m) reduction in span earlier in its life.