Fórum Brigadeiro Nero Moura
Fórum do 1º Grupo de Aviação de Caça Virtual - Senta a Pua!
- O avião ao subir começou a girar para a direita - segundo descrição de testemunhas.The aircraft was about a lap into the race when the pilot sent out a "Mayday signal" and pulled "out of the lap" before crashing into a box seat area that is in front of a grandstand about 15 miles north of Reno, Draper said.
"It was clear that (the plane) was pulling up and was in distress," he said.
Video de outro ângulo:Several witnesses were calling the pilot a hero because he maneuvered the plane away from the crowded grandstands at the last moment.
Ben Cissell said the plane crashed about 100 feet from where he was seated.
"I think that pilot in the last seconds pulled up because he saw the bleachers and saved about 200 or 300 others," Cissell said.
"I don't mean this as a disrespect to others injured, but that pilot is a hero. He saved a lot of lives today. It could have been much worse."
Sokol1" Leeward said major changes were made to the plane before this year's race. He said his crew cut five feet off each wing and shortened the ailerons -- the back edge of the main wings used to control balance -- to 32 inches, down from about 60 inches. The goal was to make the plane more aerodynamic so it goes faster without a bigger engine.
"I know the speed. I know it'll do the speed. The systems aren't proven yet. We think they're going to be OK," he said."
