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good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday. i'm liester holt. >> i'm amy robach. we'll get to ann curry in a moment in iran, but let's first get to the deadly plane crash in reno. >> a vintage world war ii fighter plane plunged from the sky into the main grandstand. part of an air race. a p-51 mustang moments before impact. another photo suggests that perhaps what went wrong. being blown by this man, a veteran hollywood sfunt pilot. george lewis is in reno with the latest on the deadly crash. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. a go-team from the national transportation safety board is headed to reno in morning to begin investigating the causes of this tragedy that took the life of the pilot and two others on the ground, and sent more than 50 others to the hospital. the moment of the crash was 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 stand. >> oh! oh, my god! >> reporter: organizers of the reno air race called it a mass casualty situation, as the aircraft rained debris on the crowd. >> everybody said uh-oh. went down, down, down, straight down, and exploded. >> we saw everything, the plane just splatters. >> 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 fwloes. it's unclear what happened. >> they are the best pilots in the entire world. >> jimmy leeward, 74 years old in an interview thursday morning. he sounded confident getting through the preliminary heats of the race. >> we're as fast as anybody in the field. or maybe even a little faster. but to start with, we really didn't want to show our hand until saturday or sunday. we've been playing poker since last month, so it's ready -- we're ready to show a couple more cards. we'll see on friday what happens. >> reporter: what happened was horrendo horrendous. unknown whether leeward was trying to take evasive action to avoid the crowd. >> if it was in jimmy's power, he would have done everything he could have possibly done. >> reporter: should a pilot that old been in a high-power ed plae that close to people? >> his medical records were up to date, and he was an experienced pilot. >> reporter: the big air race in reno has been compared to nascar. as many as 225,000 turn out for the thrill of watching the pilots pushing their planes to the limit. now, at one point, local hospitals here were running short of blood. the southwest airlines flight we were on last night was held up in las vegas for a while so that more blood supplies could be loaded. lester. >> george lewis in reno. thank. federal investigators head to reno to search for a cause, eyewitnesss are coming forward to talk about what they saw. among them, richard hutchings, a former nbc cameraman, at the air show when the plane fell from the sky. good morning. thank you for being with us. >> good morning, lester. >> i've been to that race a number of times. they come around a pylon towards the crowd. is this where this happened? >> there is a thing called the valley of speed. they come down, down the -- this long valley and then they start -- they start a sharp left turn, they come out of the left turn and go straight across in front of the crowd. the airplane had already made the turn and i was in the unlimited pits about a quarter mile from the stands and all of a sudden the people around me hollered and i looked up and saw the airplane just pitch up violently, and it appeared when it -- when it climbed about 400, 500 feet, it appeared to have stalled and suddenly realized he was now angling towards the stands, drifting off to the right and we just couldn't believe it. we were all just speechless. and then when it -- it did hit, we just couldn't believe it. and all i saw was the plane disappear behind one of the aircraft, and behind the stands, and then debris field with dust came out. out into view, out into what we call the ramp area. this is a tragic accident, and a tragic situation for the reno area. >> richard when we see this on video it takes place in a matter of seconds, i understand you're a pilot. have you seen these things of sorts before. any signs this plane was in dispress in the moments before the crash itself? >> i did not see the aircraft initially in its coming around the pylons, because they are moving along pretty rapidly at about 100 to 200 feet above the ground. i just saw it pitch up violently. what caused that, there is speculation, but i -- i don't know. but then it just went up, as said, several hundred feet and appeared to stall and, unfortunately, just angled off to the right. >> the vantage point we have been seeing this through is shot from the grandstands, the area where the plane came down, was that a seating area? who would have been in that area? >> i have not been to that area. i am explaining to you what is secondhand. there is the grandstand, about 30 rows, and then in front of that, on the tarmac, you have these vip booths where people sit anywhere from six to ten. that's where i understand it came right over the top of the grandstand, right over some people and then the impact -- impacted the vip area. that's what i have been told. i did not see that myself. >> richard, can you tell me what the reaction in the crowd to witness that sort of thing? what was it like in the minutes after? >> stunning silence for a few moments. >> richard hutchings, good to have you on. thank you very much for your account of this horrible disaster. now here is amy. >> lester, thank you very much. greg feist is former national lead investigator of the national transportation board. good morning. >> good morning, amy. >> we have an image of moments before the crash and something notable that is missing. we have a red circle around what looks like a missing trim tab. can you explain what a trim tab is, and what would happen if one of those tabs came off? >> the trim tab is designed to reduce the aerodynamic forces on a particular flight control in this case, it's on the elevator, which allows the pilot to pitch the airplane up and down. with the trim tab missing, the aerodynamic forces at a very high rate of speed are very great for the pilot and without the trim tab, that elevator could become uncontrollable for the pilot, either because of aerodynamics or because of the forces transmitted by the speed of the aircraft. >> and, greg, we just heard an eyewitness, richard hutchings, say he saw the plane pitch up violently and then we saw the images of a near dive. would that explain what may have happened when you see that missing tab? >> that could be a very good explanation, amy. one of the things that the investigators have to look at is to see if the airplane got into a speed range where there is what we call aerodynamic flutter. a very complicated thing to explain if they exceeded the speed capability of the tail and started to cause damage and in this case, the trim tab, if the trim tab failed that could have caused the elevator to move uncommanded, which could have answered the question why the airplane pitched up so violently. the pilot would be experiencing a lot of "g" forces, possibly more than he could withstand. >> there have long been safety concerns about air shows, this one in particular. 17 fatalities during the national championship air races. since this event began back in 1964. this is the first time that spectators have died at a show. is this type of event simply too dangerous? a lot of people are calling the safety of these events into question this morning. >> i think that is definitely a good question that's going to have to be answered, not only by the ntsb in their investigation, but, of course, the faa who sets the rules and standards for events like this. we have had tragic events happen within air shows. this is the only kind of air race in the world. so the faa will really have to evaluate how they can mitigate the risk to spectators. the course is set so that the spectators are not necessarily in harm's way during the normal course of racing, but, again, unlike nascar where you can put up fence as long the track, you can't do that, of course, with airplanes. it is going to be a real big issue that the faa has to look at diligent until this investigation. >> greg, we appreciate your expertise. thank you very much. what a busy news morning this is. breaking news following regarding the two americans jailed in iran. the hikers, ron mott at the news desk with that and the rest of the day's top stories. >> good morning. good morning, everyone. a lawyer is trying to make final bail arrangements for the two jailed american hikers. ann curry is live in tehran with the latest developments. good morning. >> reporter: that's right, ron. good morning. as of today, the $1 million bail has been raised. the hikers' attorneys today begins to make final filings of bail documents and a judge has signed them. but it turns out the second judge required to sign these documents, simply did not show up for work today. which is more evidence that this power play we've been witnessing going on behind the scenes is still not over. however there, are intense negotiations going on at the highest levels behind the scenes and it still is expected here that these two hikers will be released. the question is only when. will they be released before or after president ahmadinejad leaves this area, leaves tehran for new york to speak before the united nations gem as s general. he is scheduled to leave on late sunday. it's about the clock and we're all waiting. >> ann, thank you very much. back home, searchers in utah will head out again today, looking for missing mom susan powell. they continue to dig at shallow gravesite in the central utah desert. weather hampered efforts on friday. the utah mom has been missing for nearly two years. a state of georgia will decide to proceed on whether the fourth scheduled execution for a convicted cop killer. more than 400 people marched in support of troy davis. davis' supporters say key witnesses have recanted their testimony. finally, a new attraction at seaworld in orlando. visitors to discovery cove who want to swim on the wild side can dive into sea ventures. the scuba like attraction allows them to get up personal with sharks. ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no glass thick enough. back to lester and amy. >> thanks. >> thank you. a check of weather with scott williams from the weather channel. >> good morning, guys. looking at a fall preview across much of a good saturday morning, everybody. welcome to your weekend. mostly cloudy skies are out there right now. i'm news 4 meteorologist chuck bell. a mostly cloudy weekend around here with a chance of light passing sprinkle from time to time. current temperatures in the mid to upper 50s around metro washington. low 50s back out to the west. here's a look at live radar. light rain and sprinkles through the west. off and on rain chances through the day. temperatures holding in the 60s that's your saturday forecast. amy. >> scott, thank you. still to come on today, scorched earth. the devastating drought in texas, that is next. but first, this is "today" on nbc. 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[ giggles ] woah! there's another way to minimize litter box odor: purina tidy cats. our premium litters now work harder to help neutralize odors in multiple cat homes. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. but for some of us with overactive bladder, our pipes just don't work as well as they should. sometimes, i worry my pipes might leak. but i learned there's something more i can do. now, i take care with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain, or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision, so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. so why wait ? ask your doctor today... ... about taking care with vesicare. this is a news 4 news break. good morning. it's 8:27 on this saturday, september 17th, 2011. i'm john tripp. today, you have a chance to help protect yourself from identity theft. the nbc washington pnc bank community shred is going on right now. it started just minutes ago in lot b of the anaadale campus of the northern virginia community good morning. i'm meet rols chuck bell. temperatures are in the 50s right now. mostly cloudy skies. temperatures will stay in the 60s today. a little break or two of sunshine late tomorrow afternoon. highs near 70. we are back on this chilly sunday morning, september 17th, 2011. we have six more days before the autumn officially arrives, but it definitely already feels like fall today in the northeast. we have a great crowd out on the plaza for us. thanks to everyone for spending part of their morning with us. coming up this morning, a "today" exclusive. a wisconsin man has not seen his daughter since she was just three days old and that was back in 1966. >> both father and is daughter are with us this morning. they are in separate rooms and about to meet for the first time in nearly 45 years. coming up, we'll find out why they haven't seen each other in four dec