Racing Suspended in Wake of Tragedy

The Reno Air Racing Association confirmed that a "fatal incident" occurred on Sunday, 18 September 2022, during the third lap of the event's Jet Gold Race.

In a statement shared on social media, the association’s chairman and CEO, Fred Telling, asserted: "We can confirm that during the Jet Gold Race on the third lap there was a fatal incident at Outer Pylon-Five today. There will be an investigation conducted by the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration.) All other pilots landed safely and race operations for 2022 have been suspended. We express our deepest sympathies to the pilot's family and friends as well as racers and race fans who make up our September family."

The lost aircraft—a single-engine Aero L-29 Delfín—went down at approximately 15:45 PDT, impacting the ground in the vicinity of a residential area. The pilot, Aaron Hogue, was the aircraft’s sole occupant. No bystanders were injured.

A YouTube live stream captured the crash as it occurred. The video—in accordance with the dictates of decency—has been removed from the Reno Air Races YouTube channel.

Known also as the STIHL National Championship Air Races, the Reno Air Races is an annual, multi-day event held every September at the Reno Stead Airport (4SD)—approximately ten-nautical-miles northwest of Reno, Nevada. Racing is divided into seven-classes: STOL Drag; T-6; Sport; Biplane; Formula-1; Jet; and the main-event Unlimited Class, which comprises highly modified WWII fighters—primarily P-51 Mustangs, F-8F Bearcats, and Hawker Sea Furies. Unlimited Class aircraft race at speeds exceeding five-hundred-miles-per-hour and are appositely billed as the world’s fastest motorsport.

Racing in Reno consists of two-and-a-half days of qualifying, followed by four-and-a-half days of multi-aircraft heat racing. The competition culminates in the Unlimited Class Gold Race.

Since the event’s organization in 1964, the Reno Air Races have claimed the lives of 25 pilots. A horrific 2011 accident saw a P51 Mustang piloted by veteran aviator Jimmy Leeward go down near the stands, killing ten spectators and injuring an additional 69.

Such statistics, though apt to foment controversy and raise calls for condemnation of the Reno Air Races, ought be considered contextually. Notwithstanding past and present tragedies, the safety record of the Reno Air Races—and aircraft racing in general—vastly surpasses that of automotive motorsports.  

The 2022 Reno Air Race event hosted 156 highly-skilled pilots and 152 competing aircraft. Despite its unavoidable and unfortunate correlation to Mr. Hogue’s passing, the Aero L-29 Delfín is a respected aircraft with an admirable safety record. The Czechoslovakian-designed-and-built machine served as the standard Warsaw Pact jet trainer throughout its 1961-1974 production run—during which over three-thousand specimens of the spirited, single-engine plane were built.

Aero-News extends its condolences to Mr. Hogue’s family and friends.

FMI: www.airrace.org