[KevinP73]

Competitor crashes into spectators. Multiple casualties. Details are incoming.
RENO, Nev. — A plane crashed into a seating area Friday at the annual Reno air races on Friday, resulting in multiple injuries.

The accident happened just before 4:30 p.m. during the National Championship Air Races at the Reno-Stead Airport, KTVN-TV reported.

There was no official word on injuries but KRNV-TV aired videotape of the scene that showed at least four people being carried on stretchers to ambulances. What appeared to be debris from the crash was strewn through a seating area in front of the grandstands. A line of military jets could be seen in the background.

Witnesses told KTVN that planes in the Unlimited race were ascending when one aircraft started to nose-dive and then crashed near a spectator stand in the southeast corner. KTVN said the aircraft was a World War II-era P-51. The fate of the pilot was not known.

Washoe County sheriff's officials confirmed to NBC News that a plane had gone into the crowd.

Airport and military crews were evacuating the area.

KOLO-TV reported that the plane was named Galloping Ghost and was piloted by Jimmy Leeward. The plane went down soon after take-off during the beginning of the Unlimited race, the station said.

The competition at the National Championship Air Races and Air Show is done in six classes of aircraft, the races’ website says. The unlimited class “has generally been populated by stock or modified WWII fighters with the P-51 Mustangs, F-8F Bearcats and Hawker Sea Fury being flown most often. The Unlimited Class flies in speeds exceeding 500 mph,” the website says