Reno Air Crash...
 

Reno Air Races qualifying was going on when a P-51 apparently went out of control and hit an area in front of a grandstand.

'Mass casualties' reported after plane crashes at Nevada air show - CNN.com

saw this in the news at 6 on ctv ><"

RIP to everyone claimed and my prayers are with the injured. Very very sad.

Looks like it literally flew itself straight into the ground... Wonder what happened.

I think the pilot just recovered too late from whatever fuck up happened.

very graphic video here:
Video: Reno Air Races crash | Reno Gazette-Journal | rgj.com

early speculation is a control surface failure (loss of trim tab) but it's WAYYYY too early to even speculate now.

IMO, the pilot either lost consciousness or the aircraft had a control surface failure.. one of the two. gonna be nearly impossible to know for sure.

Thought there were reports that he issued a mayday before it happened, and there were also witness reports saying he flew straight up first, and then on the way down it appeared he was trying to steer away from the grandstands...

Either way, RIP to everyone, always terrible to witness and see tragedies like this. Thoughts to the families of all involved.

Yep, missing trim tab on the elevator. :(

very sad. RIP.

Possibility he was unconscious at some point as well, as his head is slumped forward in some of the photos inverted and in the dive.

RIP :(

I'm surprised a trim tab fucked him over so bad, there's stories of big jets making it home with have the rudder missing etc. You'd think missing the trim tab would just put more strain/effort onto the pilot?

you can't compare a heavy airliner to a nimble ww2 era fighter aircraft.

an airliner might not even notice the trim tab is missing.. they can weigh over 300,000lbs. That heavy weight means it's very stable, and resistant to a change in direction. You blow off 1/2 of one wing and a 747 will just start a slow roll in the opposite direction.

A mustang in small, light, and this particular one had cropped wings to make it faster, and the control surfaces are large to help aid in quick direction changes. Blow off 1/2 a wing at speed and it'll twirl around like a Tasmanian devil. a trim tab loss creates extreme control surface flutter at 400-500mph, and can cause the stick to shake back and forth VERY violently and even cause the elevator to move enough to create an instant high G pitch up or down. You can see the tail wheel on the mustang had been ejected from it's bay.. obviously it was jerked out by unplanned G forces.

Yeah a trim tab is a much larger percentage of wing surface area on a small plane compared to a commercial airplane.

Just read this on a feed relating to the accident.

Just read this on a feed relating to the accident.

Forgot about that stuff. Needs more mass balance.

I think this has more to do with the fact these planes are modified versions of the original WWII planes. Hell, those aircraft used to get parts shot off all the time and still were able to make it back home.

When you're racing on the edge, even the smallest failure of a component can have catastrophic results.

RIP to the pilot and spectators.

Wow, another plane crash, this time at a West Virginia air show...

Plane crashes at West Virginia air show

Oh no the earth is going crazy with it's forces. 2012!!!!!!! :troll:

That's so sad... having had to deal with such a disability for so many years, and then to have your life taken away by such a random event...

New Video of Reno Air Race Crash - NYTimes.com

Damn :heckno: