Reno air show crash! o_o

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCNePeKn3Tg[/youtube]

I've been following this story. Here's what was reported on CNN.com

If Mr. Leeward was unconscious the plane wouldn't have jerked away. If he had ejected his plane would have free-fell right into the audience. This brave man, knowing he was going to die, stayed with the plane... and at the last second jerked it to cause the least deaths as possible. He's a hero and should be recognized for his actions.

If you were in his situation would you eject to save your life knowing your plane would kill tens of dozens or would you die with your plane to save many?

I agree with you that the man was a hero but P-51's don't have ejection seats, he couldn't bail out, once the plane broke there wasn't anything he could do to save himself.

I've been following the story too, and the weird thing is that this plane crashed once before, almost exactly forty years before (18 September 1970) - in Reno!

And today, another World War Two plane crashed in West Virginia.

My deepest condolences to the friends and families of the ones who were hurt or killed in this accident.

I wonder why this event exists. I would be concerned if I lived in a community nearby. The whole concept reminds me of that crazy race in Tatooine in Episode IV. Fine for a space opera - but I would prefer to stick to sports that will not be so deadly for either the participants or the spectators.

Don't get me wrong - I'm from the country that is home to the Snowbirds. I have also been to airshows - it is just the whole race concept that worries me - too risky for all involved.

Regardless of my opining about the nature of these races - I still respect the pilot and his brave actions to minimize injuries to others.

It's possible that Jimmy Leeward was wearing a parachute - many aerobatic pilots do, but bailing out was never an option in those circumstances. It's one thing to leave an aircraft in straight and level flight at altitude, quite another to bail from one in uncontrolled climb and dive. There are photos which appear to show the left elevator trim tab detaching, and informed speculation is that this put the aircraft into an uncontrolled climb. The P-51 Mustang is an incredibly powerful aircraft and the forces experienced by the pilot could have reached 10g, which would be likely to result in rapid unconsciousness. If he then fell forward onto the control column, maybe this initiated the dive, although if the aircraft was now trimmed for a steep climb considerable force would be needed to lower the nose. There is also a photo of the aircraft in dive with the tail wheel extended but the main landing gear retracted - maybe a high G event has caused the tail wheel to unlock.

The world has lost a brilliant pilot, and many families have lost loved ones. There is some risk from attending events like this - in the UK flying displays are an exception to some of the low flying rules, and I imagine the same is true in the US, however the risk to communities nearby is negligible, as is the risk to people on the ground from aviation generally.

My sympathies to all involved.