The deadly skies: Crashes threaten air races

FAA vows more scrutiny

RENO, Nev. - It's billed as "the world's fastest motor sport."

Critics have another label, calling the Reno National Championship Air Races "the world's most dangerous motor sport" after three pilots were killed during competition last year and another racer was killed during a practice flight Saturday.

The crashes have prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to scrutinize the races. Local school officials have reconsidered whether to continue student field trips to the event.

Mike Houghton, president of the races, insisted that organizers go out of their way to make the event as safe as possible in an inherently dangerous sport.

"Safety, safety, safety is the one thing people get tired of hearing me talk about," Houghton said. "But in every competition there is risk, and ours is the same. If you did away with the risk, you'd have checkers and ping-pong."

About 150 of the nation's top racing pilots will compete Sept. 10-14 for $1 million in prize money at Reno-Stead Airport just north of Reno.

Mark Daniels, a former Army helicopter mechanic and air traffic controller from the central Nevada community of Dyer, contended organizers have made the races more dangerous than any other motor sport.

"They put on a good show of safety, but that's all it is," said the 52-year-old aviation buff. "Absolutely, the event's future is threatened by the safety issue. People don't want to come out and see other people die."

The competition is like a car race in the sky, with planes flying wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet off the sagebrush at speeds sometimes surpassing 500 miles per hour. Pilots follow an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft.

Reno has the world's only multiclass air races, with six classes of aircraft competing, said Don Berliner of Alexandria, Va., president of the Society of Air Racing Historians and author of several books on the sport.

At one time, air races were staged all over the United States, but only the Reno races remains, Berliner said. He said two air races are still staged in France, but they feature only a single class of aircraft, called Formula One.

There have been 19 fatalities since the Reno event began in 1964, including the three last year in the deadliest single week.

On the ground, Daytona International Speedway has had 27 race-related deaths since it opened in 1959, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has had 67 deaths, dating to the pre-500 races of 1909-10. But officials point out that both speedways hold more races each year than Reno's single event.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said his agency is increasing its presence at Reno.

Inspectors will give pilots safety briefings at the beginning of the races, pay closer attention to pilots' records, and place more scrutiny on aircraft modifications, he said.