Comments Come After Some Of Those Affected By Leeward Accident Say Races Should Continue

Despite having been seriously injured, or losing a family member when Jimmy Leeward's plane tragically went down at the Reno Air Races in September, some of the people represented in a law suit against the race organizers by attorney Tony Buzbee have told him that they would like to not only see the races continue, but to attend future events.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Buzbee's response to them was "You are absolutely nuts."

But as the NTSB prepares for a hearing Tuesday concerning air race and air show safety, support for such events among those who actually attend them remains very strong.

To be sure, some of those in the lawsuit would prefer to see the races halted, and RARA officials have said publicly that such an outcome is certainly feasible. But statistics show that more then 10 million people attend air shows each year int he U.S., and the September accident is the only one since 1951 in which any spectators were killed. “When it comes to spectator fatalities, their record is very good in the United States,” said NTSB chair, Deborah Hersman. “But any fatalities lead us to question how we can improve.”

Air race critics say that those events are more dangerous than air shows, where performers are limited to an air show box which parallels spectator areas along the flight line. Buzbee said the turn to the final leg of the Reno race, in which the airplane is briefly heading in the direction of the spectator area, makes the event inherently dangerous.

The 1951 accident at an air show in Flagler, CO, resulted in a change in how such events are staged in the U.S., including specific distances up to 1,500 feet between the airplanes and spectators depending on the type of aircraft participating in the event. A mid-air collision at a show at Ramstein AFB in Germany in 1988 prompted a tightening of those rules after the wreckage fell on spectators.

Attorney and pilot Mike Danko is quoted in the Reno Gazette-Journal saying that the course of the hearing depends on the questions asked by the board members. He said the NTSB should push to uncover what he says are "weaknesses" in the FAA's regulation of the air show and air race industry. Danko said this board is more activist than past panels, citing a call for a ban on all cell phone use in vehicles. "It's a cowboy operation," Danko said of many of the air shows put on by municipalities around the country. "Some of these shows are run on a shoestring," he said. "People are lulled into a false sense of security."

Veteran air racer Howie Keefe, who wrote an analysis of the accident involving Jimmy Leeward for the board, said the hearing was about far more than the Reno Air Races. The shows "bring the whole community together," he said, adding that the air show industry is "important to America."

The ICAS estimates that air shows are responsible for $110 million in economic activity across the nation, with an audience of 10-12 million people annually.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov