addition to the 56 people who were transported by official emergency vehicles, there s a number of people who may have sought help and left to receive medical treatment in private vehicles. you have been seeing walking wounded or other people not being treated in hospitals but maybe taking care of themselves in some way? no, there is a report from mike townsend that there were some people who were taken to hospitals possibly maybe by the people they were with and those people since left the hospital. i did not see any walking wounded, so to speak. just arriving on scene and seeing a few dozen ambulances leaving the scene. not sure about any of the walking wounded. i can tell that you there are a lot of adults, of course, who come out to this race. but in talking to more people, there are also several children that were here as well. so, you know, the first thought that comes to mind, of course,
captured on video. the camera picks up other planes racing by the stands at low altitude and then one aircraft plunges into the ground near the end of the stands. organize ergz of the reno air race called it a mass casualty situation as the aircraft showered debris on the crowd. everybody started saying, uh-oh, and he went down, down, down, down, straight down. exploded. we saw everything. the plane just splattered. reporter: in the chaotic aftermath of the crash, emergency responders summoned every ambulance they could to rush the injured to hospitals. the plane in question, a restored world war ii vintage p-51 mustang known as the galloping ghost. it s unknown at this time the cause. every pilot understands the risks. they are perhaps the best pilots in the world. reporter: long-time air racer jimmy leeward, 70 years old n an
leeward was flying, it s a p-51 mustang. this particular plane is called the galloping ghost. the statistics available from leeward air ranch racing which was his company tell us that the flight the pilot, excuse me, the plane was 32 3, the wing span of just under 29 . it weighs 7600 pounds. single engine in this is a v-12 pack ard v-1650 liquid-cooled super charged engine. maximum speed of 550 miles per hour at 5,000 feet. this is a plane heavily, heavily modified to be able to fly not only at race speed but in race condition. again, this event serene yhe i as nascar in the sky. these are not planes in trouble. these are planes participating
we have a continuing update on the breaking news tonight in reno, nevada. a vintage airplane crashed into the audience at an air race. witnesses tell the reno gazette journal that there are multiple fatalities. one man told the paper it s just like a massacre. it s like a bomb went off. he also said there are people lying all over the runway. a reno air race spokesman describes the crash as a, quote, mass casualty situation. according to the associated press, at least 75 people have been injured. 25 of those critically. with life threatening injuries. there are still no confirmed deaths. the plane is reportedly a world war ii era fighter plane, a p-51 mustang. according to the local nbc affiliate, krnv. we will be back with more as this story develops. [ male announcer ] this.is the network.
straight into the ground. we ve been able to be joined tonight and lucky to have him by greg fith, a former director of the ntsb, the government agency that investigates crashes like this. greg, thanks very much for joining us. i appreciate having you here. you re welcome. in terms of air races and air shows and other types of events like this in which airports are doing things, you don t see them do in typical daily life and there are people on the ground watching, what are the other types of incidents that have been more typical in term of safety incidents at these events? this obviously is not a this is a very, very a typical event. unlike the reno air race itself, a lot of the general public typically goes to see an air show, either at an airport or military base. you see a variety of different types of flying with small single engine airplanes, to the military formation flying. and that happens typically