The September Reno air race crash results in a lawsuit

This is believed to be the first (of many upcoming) lawsuits stemming from the Sept. 16 crash of pilot Jimmy Leeward's P-51D Mustang during air races at Reno-Stead Airport which killed 11 people, including Leeward, and injuring 74.

The lawsuit is being filed by the widow of spectator victim Craig Salerno, who also left behind two young children. "Some people say this was an accident," said Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who represents the family. "But it seems to me the formula that they created made an accident inevitable."

The lawsuit names Texas-based mechanic Richard Shanholtzer Jr., the Reno Air Racing Association, Leeward’s son, Dirk Leeward, Leeward Racing Inc. and family corporations in Florida, and Aeroacoustics Inc., an aircraft parts maker in Washington state. Reno Air Racing Association chief executive Michael Houghton said he has not seen the lawsuit but tactfully offered "condolences to the families and fans (who) were affected by this devastating tragedy."

He added that he fully expected a number of lawsuits, and that this is the first in a volley. Craig Salerno, 50, of Friendswood, Texas, was a dispatcher for Continental Airlines and also a lieutenant for a volunteer fire department. He was an avid racing pilot. He attended the Reno event with a friend who was hospitalized with critical injuries after the crash, as were many spectator victims, many of whom lost limbs.

Buzbee said he wanted to hold two culpable groups accountable for the tragedy: "Those who pushed the limits of physics on the plane, being risk takers and reckless without regard for the people who might be watching them, and those who promoted and profited from hosting the show." He also suggested that the NTSB investigation was not entirely neutral, citing as evidence that the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority has lobbyists in Washington with ties to the NTSB. Records do indeed show that the Reno airport authority paid $62,000 in 2011 to three Washington lobbying firms — Gephardt Group, Porter Group and Akerman, Senterfitt & Eidson — to handle transportation funding issues before Congress. Airport spokesman Brian Kulpin acknowledged that one of the airport's lobbyists hired Peter Goelz, a senior executive at O'Neill and Associates in Washington and former NTSB official, as a consultant "to interpret the NTSB process." The lawsuit, nevertheless, does not name either the airport or the investigative agency.

The NTSB findings on the crash have not yet been made public and a ruling on the exact cause of the crash has not been determined.

Leeward was a veteran movie stunt pilot and was excited about the modifications which were made to his plane, the ominously named “Galloping Ghost.” Those modifications may have been at the heart of the tragedy, as photographic evidence suggests that a key piece of the tail, called the elevator trim tab, was missing as the plane climbed sharply in its final maneuver. The plane nosedived shortly thereafter at more than 400 mph into the crowd of spectators.

The structural changes to the plane were radical, and maximized speed rather than stability or safety. You can read more details here.

Source

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

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