Reno plane crash cause revealed

LAS VEGAS -- A plane that crashed into spectators at an air race in Reno last year bore modifications that weakened its structure and showed evidence that it was flown beyond its limits, investigators said yesterday.

The National Transportation Safety Board deemed the failure of a tail structure the probable cause of the crash of a souped-up World War II-era P-51 Mustang fighter that killed pilot Jimmy Leeward and 10 people on the ground at last year's National Championship Air Races in Reno and injured more than 70.

Leeward also was blamed for failing to fully document and test extensive modifications to the aircraft before the September 2011 crash.

Board member Robert Sumwalt said: "If you want to go out and fly fast and try to win, that's one thing. If you're modifying an aircraft without fully understanding how the modifications can affect the aerodynamics, you're playing Russian roulette."

Structural modifications of the aircraft dubbed the Galloping Ghost made it lighter and reduced drag, according to the NTSB report. But flight control modifications also made the aircraft less stable. The NTSB found that an elevator trim tab malfunction created aerodynamic instability that made Leeward's plane uncontrollable.

High-resolution photos show the skin wrinkling and a canopy separating from the plane seconds before the crash, and investigators found loose screws in the tail assembly.

At a board hearing in Washington, Chairwoman Deborah Hersman blamed the 74-year-old Leeward for "operating at the edge of the envelope" without fully reporting and testing modifications to his plane.

Leeward was "incapacitated" and probably became unconscious when gravitational forces reached 17 times normal as the propeller aircraft -- flying faster than it ever had before -- pitched skyward, rolled upside down and slammed nose-first into the tarmac amid rows of box seats, NTSB investigators found. The tail stabilizer fell from the plane during the steep climb.

NTSB officials say Leeward had perhaps one second to respond, but the G-forces on his body far exceeded the levels of human tolerance.