Reno air races: Investigators start to piece together wreckage
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Federal officials said Saturday that investigators are beginning the difficult task of piecing together the wreckage from the scene, and analyzing photos, to figure out what caused Friday’s deadly crash.
Mark Rosekind, board member of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters in a news conference that investigators continued to scour the accident scene Saturday, and were able to recover and identify portions of the downed aircraft, including its tail, which could be crucial in uncovering what happened.
Investigators had also collected what Rosekind called a significant number of photos and videos taken by spectators at the time of the incident.
But the wreckage was “highly fragmented” and there was no recording device on board, making the task more challenging, NTSB officials said.
Debris from the plane extended over more than an acre, and the impact from the crash left a crater on the tarmac that was about 3 feet deep and 6 to 8 feet wide.
Full coverage: Deadly crash at Reno air show
At the news conference, officials also offered an updated tally of those killed and injured. Lt. Mac Venzon of the Reno Police Department said 69 people had been treated at local hospitals, and of those, eight remained in critical condition. Nine had died; seven, including the pilot, died at the scene, while two others died later at local hospitals.
In addition, officials announced that the NTSB’s Office of Transportation Disaster Assistance established a center at the Hyatt Place Hotel in Reno to aid the families of those killed or injured.
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-- Tony Barboza in Reno
