Witness: Aircraft had 'nothing behind the passenger seat' after Air Race collision

The last moments for two pilots who were killed in a crash that shut down the final Reno Air Races on Sept. 17 was detailed in a preliminary report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The crash, which occurred as the first- and second-place winners of the T-6 Texan race, Nick Macy and Chris Rushing, were approaching for a landing at Stead Airport.

Pilot Vic McMann, who was flying Gunslinger, told investigators that when he last saw Rushing’s aircraft, it was in level flight with “nothing behind the passenger seat” before the aircraft rolled to the right and nosed toward the ground.

Rushing had just won the gold and was making his approach at about 300 feet above the ground. A witness said that Macy was at about a 75-degreee angle to Rushing’s flight path.

McMann told investigators that he’d just begun a slow left turn downwind and heard both of the pilots ahead of him report “downwind, abeam” on the radio.

McMann slowed his aircraft to put distance to between his and the other two aircraft so he could see the other planes when he heard Rushing transmit that his landing gear were down.

“As he got close to turning onto the base leg for the runway, he spotted Race 6 (Macy), and transmitted downwind abeam,” according to the report. “The pilot of Race 66 (McMann) stated that he ‘finally spotted’ Race 14 (Rushing) below his position to the right and on the base leg and saw Race 6 (Macy) in level flight to his left, noting both airplanes were not where he expected them to be.”

Rushing was on a “wider base” than the previous two flights and Race 6 was “tighter” than his position, McMann told investigators.

He said that Rushing crossed in front of his position from his right to left and disappeared on the right side of the engine cowling and Macy disappeared under his left wing.

Radio transmissions indicated Rushing crashed a minute and 11 seconds after his initial transmission.

Debris from the crash including the rear portion of the aircraft was spread over a quarter mile where Rushing crashed. Macy’s aircraft showed the wing was separated from the fuselage and were spotted 30 feet south of the main wreckage along with the aft section of Rushing’s plane.

Most of Macy’s aircraft was found within 50 feet of the main wreckage.

The crash was the worst to occur at the air races since a modified P-51 Mustang crashed into the box seats on Sept. 16, 2011, killing the pilot and 10 spectators, including Gardnerville contractor John Craik. An estimated 74 spectators were injured in that crash.

That crash marked the beginning of the end for the air races in Reno, as the association had more trouble insuring the event. September was the last air race in Reno.