Details are sketchy, but a plane crash occurred at the Reno Air Races late Friday afternoon. USA Today is reporting that a P-51 Mustang crashed into the "box seat area" of the crowd at about 1630 local time.
The P-51, a WWII era fighter was reportedly piloted by Jimmy Leeward when it crashed into the crowd. The video below shows the aircraft plunging vertically into or near the crowd.
A spokesman for the air race told the AP that the situation was a "mass casualty event".
The Chicago Sun-Times quoted Stephanie Kruse, a spokesperson for the Regional Medical Service Authority as saying that 25 people were critically injured and another 25 were seriously injured. More than 25 more people were treated for minor injuries, she reportedly said.
These are early numbers, hopefully they go down. There are also some unconfirmed reports of numerous fatalities, but as they are not confirmed I will not post the numbers.
A tragedy for all involved, I am sure the local ARFF and EMS plan for this type of disaster, but it still has to be a strain on resources. I will post more on this when confirmed details become available. Keep the pilot, victims and responders in you thoughts as this develops.
Schnoe
ON THIS DAY — about 70 years ago
1 day ago
Well done! Sounds like they had all Red patients ready for transport at the 30 min mark and yellow patients at the 45 min mark from what I heard on the recorded radio traffic.
ReplyDeleteAnon - I listened to the tape, it was hard for me to determine if it was edited, either for time or to combine different frequencies. Regardless, it sounds like all involved did a pretty golly gosh darn good job considering the amount of carnage/chaos involved.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment