Probe of air race crash focuses on loose screws

RENO - Federal safety regulators are focusing on loose screws in the tail of a World War II-era fighter plane modified to race faster than 500 mph as a likely cause of a crash that killed the pilot and 10 others at the Reno National Championship Air Races last September.

The National Transportation Safety Board released nearly 1,000 pages of documents and photographs Tuesday while continuing to investigate the cause of the accident, which injured more than 70 people at Reno Stead Airport.

The documents point to potential deficiencies in the safety inspection procedures, something race organizers said they are addressing at this year's 49th annual National Championship Air Races, scheduled for Sept. 12-16.

One document shows inspectors noted about a month before the race that the screws were too short in one of the trim tabs that helped control the P-51 Mustang flown by Jimmy Leeward.

According to interviews with the technical inspectors and the crew, the trim tab problem "was due to one or more screws on the right elevator trim tab not having enough threads protruding from the nut and there was an area washer missing in the wheel well."

The crew reportedly fixed the problems, and the plane was cleared to race, but the safety board said there was "no written procedure or sign off to ensure" that was the case.

Formalizing plane inspection procedures was one of the recommendations of a panel commissioned by air race officials after the crash to help make the event safer.

Analysis of the accident, with a determination of probable cause, will come later this month when the final report on the investigation is completed.

The competition, which is held about eight miles north of Reno, is the only event of its kind in the world. Planes fly wing-tip-to-wing tip around an oval pylon track, sometimes just 50 feet off the ground and at speeds of more than 500 mph.

Leeward, 74, was traveling at 530 mph when his plane, dubbed the "Galloping Ghost," pitched skyward while making a turn, then rolled and slammed into the ground nose first near box seats.

Still photos showed part of the tail known as the elevator trim tab came off as the plane went out of control, and aviation experts theorized at the time it could have caused the crash.

Photos from moments before the crash appear to show the tab at an awkward angle, indicating the control rod was broken.

Investigators say it's possible the trim tab was fluttering because screws were loose, and the movement put enough pressure on the control rod to break it.

Another hypothesis is that the plane hit a wake of air, which increased the speed of the flutter and broke the rod.