San Jose Pilot Killed In Crash While Qualifying For Reno Air Races

RENO (CBS/AP) -- A San Jose pilot died in a plane crash Monday while attempting to qualify for the Reno National Championship Air Races, the same event where a wreck in 2011 killed a pilot and 10 spectators on the ground.

No one else was injured in the crash that occurred about 3:30 p.m. on the north end of the race course at Stead Airport north of Reno, far away from the grandstand where the 10 people were killed three years ago, race spokesman Mike Draper said.

The pilot was identified as Lee Behel of San Jose.

"Lee was a very talented pilot but, more importantly, an enthusiastic and compassionate friend and the entire Air Race family will miss him deeply," Mike Major, chairman of the Reno Air Racing Association said in a statement on Monday.

According to the statement, Behel was flying a GP-5 called "Sweet Dreams." The incident is under investigation by the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board.

It marks the 21^st fatal crash in the 51-year history of the Air Races and the first since Jimmy Leeward, 74, of Ocala, Fla., died on Sept. 16, 2011. That crash was the only one where spectators died.

Leeward's World War II-era P-51 Mustang fighter reached 530 mph before it pitched skyward and then slammed nose-first into the box seats fronting the grandstand. Seventy others were injured.

Federal investigators blamed Leeward and his aircraft modifications for the crash. A crucial tail control known as the trim tab fluttered, its screws loosening, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

The crash prompted the implementation of new safety measures, including a redesigned race course that adds 150 feet of buffer—pushing the distance between racing planes and the permanent grandstand to at least 1,000 feet.

The Reno Air Racing Association said qualifying will resume as scheduled at 8 a.m. on Tuesday and the event will officially open to the public on Wednesday. A tribute for Behel is expected to take place later this week.

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