welcome back to weekends with alex witt and now our top story. the vintage world war ii fighter plane slammed into the edge of the grandstands during an air racing show friday afternoon. let s go love to reno. how are witnesses describing this horrific incident? reporter: good morning to you, alex. words really can t describe what happened here. just an absolutely terrible scene. each year, you know, thousands of people come here to watch this high-speed air race. it is a very popular event. but certainly no one could have predicted the horrific scene that unfolded here yesterday afternoon. this video posted on youtube shows the moments the plane crashed as it nose dived into a crowd seated in front of the grandstand. it happened in an instant. spectators enjoying a sunny day at reno air races and then tragedy. he pulled up and he went
we re standing next to. it pulled out of the race and did kind of a may day as he was going up. and it finally turned and did a nosedive. and then it turned over in frontst grandstand and did a nosedive all the way down and went straight down. we saw everything. the plane just splattered into the box seats from what we ve heard. when you were seeing this, what was going through your mind? well, i ve seen this before. planes pull out because they have problems. and they do this little may day and they and the fire trucks come in and then they land safely. just came up. he was behind voodoo, wasn the? i m not sure. he was coming up towards the grand stands. and all of a sudden, i heard a pop. a little pop. and then it just the airplane went straight up. there was a bit of a flutter.
then it nosed over and went straight down. eyewitness reports to tonight s plane crash at the reno air races. again, what we know at this hour is a vintage world wore ii aircraft p-51 mustang. the pilot who was presumed dead, obviously, after the scale of this impact was an 80-year-old pilot. but a very, very, very experienced pilot who had been a stunt pilot in movies and ran a respected air racing team called the leeward air ranch racing team. his name is jimmy leeward. he was a real estate developer based in ocala, florida. we have a report from one nevada health center that two of the people there as injured persons after this crash have died. that renowned health center has seen 22 patients in all, nine in
do, we look at it from a to z. we have an incredible board that look at all the options. and it s not just us. there s a rather large race community. and we will talk to the race classes and the pilots and we ll evaluate what we do tomorrow. the local economy, there is about $85 million for the week. so it s a significant contribution to our local community. is the normal flight path over this seating area? no, there is no flight path that goes anywhere near the crowd. so the plane veered off course then after it lost control that s what i ve been told, yes. anything else? did you witness the crash yourself? i did not. i was doing something that i had to do with. do you know the pilot s age?
in which at least 54 people were injured, at least three people were killed. mike hougton speaking tonight. he is flanked there by the nevada governor. again, the totals now, one dead on scene. the pilot of the vintage world war ii aircraft that crashed into the box seats at the reno air races, two dead at renowned health center. 54 additional people other than those two who died, 54 additional people transported to hospitals. jimmy leeward, the pilot of this plane, the confirmed death that we have a name for. not 80 years old as reported earlier but rather 74 years old. described as in good health with up to date medical records. very experienced stunt pilot and air racing pilot. owner of the leeward air ranch ci the plane was flying on its course. it was not off course. the pilot s family sadly was on scene and saw the crash. mr. houghton saying it appears to be a problem with the