Lee Behel, a veteran pilot and past champion at the Reno National Championship Air Races and a retired fighter pilot for the Nevada Air National Guard was killed in a crash on Monday during a heat race at Reno-Stead Airport.
Behel, 64, was competing in the Sport Class – a class he helped found in 1998 and was president of – in his race plane, "Sweet Dreams" an experimental GP-5, when it appeared to suffer a catastrophic mechanical failure and crashed at the north end of the race course at 3:16 p.m., according to Tim Spencer, the Air Races' emergency operations director. Behel was the only person on board the single-engine aircraft.
Air Races spokesman Mike Draper said the plane went down at the north end of the airport, away from the grandstands where the fatal crash occurred in 2011 that killed pilot Jimmy Leeward and 10 spectators. In the 51-year history of the Air Races, 19 pilots have died during racing.
Behel had been involved in the air races for more than 20 years and the 2008 champion in the Sport Class Gold Race.
"Lee was a very talented pilot but, more importantly, an enthusiastic and compassionate friend and the entire Air Race family will miss him deeply," said Mike Major, chairman of the Reno Air Racing Association said in a statement. "This is a difficult day for all of us and our thoughts and prayers are with Lee's family and friends."
The cause of the crash is officially unknown and the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration will be investigating, FAA Public Affairs Manager Ian Gregor said in an e-mail.
The Air Races said qualifying at the event will continue as scheduled, beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday. The Air Races officially open to the public on Wednesday and continues through Sunday with the championship races.
Draper said a tribute for Behel is being planned and will take place later in the week. Details are still being worked out.
Behel lived in San Jose, Calif., and was a retired auto dealer. He spent 24 years with the Nevada Air National Guard, flying the F-4 Phantom and other military aircraft including the F-101 Voodoo. He started his Air Guard career in 1972 and retired in 1996 as a lieutenant colonel.
He started competing in the Air Races in 1998, flying two different planes in the Sport Class and also competing in the Jet Class since its inception in 2002.
The Reno Gazette-Journal covered this story live online. Here are earlier updates:
7 p.m. update
Lee Behel, a veteran pilot and past champion at the Reno National Championship Air Races and a retired fighter pilot for the Nevada Air National Guard was killed in a crash on Monday during a heat race at Reno-Stead Airfield.
Behel, 64, was competing in the Sport Class – a class he helped found and was president of – in his race plane, "Sweet Dreams" an experimental GP-5, when it appeared to suffer a catastrophic mechanical failure and crashed at the north end of the race course at 3:16 p.m., according to Tim Spencer, the Air Races' emergency operations director. Behel was the only person on board the single-engine aircraft.
Air Races spokesman Mike Draper said the plane went down at the north end of the airport, away from the grandstands where the fatal crash occurred in 2011 that killed pilot Jimmy Leeward and 10 spectators. In the 51-year history of the Air Races, 19 pilots have died during racing.
Behel had been involved in the air races for more than 20 years and the 2008 champion in the Sport Class Gold Race.
"Lee was a very talented pilot but, more importantly, an enthusiastic and compassionate friend and the entire Air Race family will miss him deeply," said Mike Major, chairman of the Reno Air Racing Association said in a statement. "This is a difficult day for all of us and our thoughts and prayers are with Lee's family and friends."
The cause of the crash is officially unknown and the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration will be investigating, FAA Public Affairs Manager Ian Gregor said in an e-mail.
The Air Races said qualifying at the event will continue as scheduled, beginning at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. The Air Races officially open to the public on Wednesday and continues through Sunday with the championship races.
Draper said a tribute for Behel is being planned and will take place later in the week. Details are still being worked out.
Behel lived in San Jose, Calif., and was a retired auto dealer. He spent 24 years with the Nevada Air National Guard, flying the F-4 Phantom and other military aircraft including the F-101 Voodoo. He retired from the Guard in 1996 as a lieutenant colonel.
He is a longtime competitor in the Air Races, flying two different planes in the Sport Class and also competing in the Jet Class since its inception in 2002.
6:48 p.m. update
Lee Behel retired from Nevada Air Guard in 1996 as a Lt. Col. He was the 2008 Sport Class champion at Reno Air Races. He also raced jets.
6:36 p.m. update
The pilot who died was Lee Behel, 64, a veteran of the air races and retired Nevada Air Guard fighter pilot.
6:22 p.m. update
This is the 19th pilot to die in a racing crash in the Reno Air Races' 51-year history. Ten spectators and a pilot were killed in 2011 crash.
5:56 p.m. update
This is the latest information released by the Federal Aviation Administration, via public information officer Ian Gregor:
-- A single-engine, experimental GP5 crashed under unknown circumstances around 3:15 p.m. on the race course during a qualifying run for the Reno Air Races.
-- Local authorities at the scene are reporting the pilot, who was the only person on board, was killed.
-- There were no injuries to anyone on the ground. I cannot yet confirm a tail number for the aircraft. The FAA and NTSB will investigate this accident. NTSB is the lead investigative agency.
-- The NTSB investigator usually posts a basic preliminary report on the agency's website, www.ntsb.gov, within a week or two of an accident.
-- However, it typically takes NTSB months to come up with a probable cause for accidents.
-- Neither the FAA nor NTSB releases the identities of people involved in aircraft accidents.
4:43 p.m. update
A race plane crashed on the course at the Reno National Championship Air Races Monday afternoon, killing the pilot.
The name of the pilot has not been released pending notification of next of kin.
Tim Spencer, the Air Races' emergency operations director, said the crash occurred at 3:16 p.m. during a Sport Class heat race.
"We've got the NTSB en route to perform an investigation," Spencer said.
The Air Races released a statement at 4:30 p.m. saying racing has been suspended for the remainder of the day and was tentatively scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
Spencer said the plane suffered a mechanical failure in the air and crashed on the race course.
This is the first fatal crash at the Air Races since 2011 when Unlimited Pilot Jimmy Leeward's P-51 Mustang crashed into the box seats in front of the main grandstands, killing him and 10 people on the ground.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
4:35 p.m. update
Fatal plane crash reported at Reno Air Races on Monday.
Sport class plane went down. Identity of pilot not released.
The name of the pilot has not been released pending notification of next of kin.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified and are on the way to conduct an investigation.
The plane was competing in a Sport Class heat and crashed on the course at 3:16 p.m.
Remaining events today have been cancelled.
4:30 p.m. update
Fatal plane crash at Reno Air Races. Sport class plane went down. Identity of pilot not released.
4:20 p.m. update
A plane "went down" at the Reno-Stead Airport at 3:30 p.m., but severity and details aren't known, the Reno Air Races say.
Reload this post for updates.
