Men, women, and children came from near, far and overseas to watch as well as take
part in the annual National Championship Air Races & Air Show in Reno, Nevada –
but little did they know the turn of events that would take place on Friday, September
16, at about 4:30 p.m.
At that time, well beloved pilot Jimmy Leeward, 74, of Ocala, Florida, crashed his
The Galloping Ghost – a P-51D Mustang built in 1944 for the World War II Army Air
Forces – into a crowd of race fans on the western end of the spectators’ area. Of
those witnessing the event was Sean P. Kelly, Safety and Security Coordinator for
the Tahoma School District, who traveled to the races with Captain Rob Mendel, a
23-year veteran of the King County Sheriff’s Office.
Captain Mendel and Kelly, who had both attended the air races for a number of years,
were seated at the eastern end of the spectator’s area – well away from the crash
site. As described by Kelly, there was not enough time to think between seeing the
plane in a possible crash mode to its final end. Following the crash, Mendel, a
pilot of single-engine planes himself, raced to the top of the grandstand with Kelly
to get a better view of what was taking place on the airfield below. While assessing
the situation, they called family back home to let them know that they were all
right.
As they looked around, they saw that the streets going out of the field area were
jamming up with people and vehicles leaving the area. They also observed the mobile
command center below them. While announcers were asking for all doctors, nurses,
EMTs and first responders to help, Mendel and Kelly were on their way to the command
center where they met Peter Dolan, Fire Chief of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority
and offered their help.
Well versed in response training – Kelly in his work with the Maple Valley Emergency
Operations Center (EOC) and Mendel who oversees the SWAT team, bomb squad and hazardous-materials
team as commander of the Sheriff’s Special Operations Division and who has received
advanced Incidence Response Training mandated by the federal government since 9/11
– both went to see how they could assist Dolan.
Picking up the task of following Dolan around with pen and paper in hand, Kelly
took seven pages of notes, while Mendel helped reposition the command center closer
to the scene and became an administrative aid by helping deliver assignments for
Dolan. Both used their skills to assist in whatever manner was needed from 4:30-9:30
p.m. then headed back home on Saturday.
Since its 1964 beginning and prior to the Friday crash, 17 people have been killed
at the races. This year claimed 11 more. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were present at the races at the
time of the crash. They immediately went to work gathering items that have been
sent to Washington DC for analysis.
