No injuries in Reno air race plane collision

RENO, Nev. — One of two Czech-built military training jets that collided in midair while practicing for this fall’s National Championship Air Races in Reno had to make a belly landing on the runway with no wheels, but neither pilot was hurt at the airport where 11 people were killed during the finals competition in 2011.

One of the L39-C Albatros manufactured in 1974 suffered tail damage and had to set down with the landing gear retracted at Reno Stead Airport about 5 p.m. on Thursday, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.

The other one built in 1980 landed without incident on another runway, he said.

The former military planes used to train fighter pilots touched while practicing maneuvers on the race course during a pylon racing seminar that teaches air safety to pilots who want to fly Sept. 11-15 at the 50th annual national championships.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the incident, Gregor said Friday.

Mike Houghton, president and CEO of the Reno Air Racing Association, said emergency crews and volunteers responded quickly to the accident.

“All systems and emergency response were exactly as planned and trained,” he said in a statement. “These pilots did an outstanding job of managing their aircraft after the incident.”

Houghton said the pilot pulled out of his first approach after the collision and circled before coming in a second time without the landing gear.

“When he landed wheels up, it (the plane) sustained quite a bit of damage to the undercarriage,” he told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

The airport 15 miles north of Reno is the site of a September 2011 race crash that killed a pilot and 10 others on the ground and injured scores more when a World War II-era, P-51 Mustang going in excess of 500 mph crashed near the grandstand.

During the competition, pilots fly wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet off the sagebrush on an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft.

Both planes involved in Thursday’s mishap were manufactured by the Prague-based Aero Vodochody, an aircraft company established in 1919, a year after the independent Czechoslovak Republic was formed. The company built MiG-15 aircraft during the Cold War era and later the supersonic MiG-19 and MiG-21.

The names of the pilots were not released. The plane built in 1974 is registered to CSC Enterprises Inc. based in Wilmington, Del., and the one in 1980 to Darryl K. Christen of Houma, La., FAA records show.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.