Amateur-built P-51R accident near Reno, Nevada, September 18, 1999
On September 18, 1999 at about 11:05 pm local time, a amateur-built P-51R, registered N57LR, was destroyed in an accident near Reno, Nevada (Reno/Stead airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The onset of a flutter event and the resultant separation of the rudder and empennage from the aircraft. The precipitating cause for the flutter could not be determined.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 18, 1999 · about 11:05 pm local time
- Place
- Reno, Nevada · Reno/Stead · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built P-51R
- Registration
- N57LR · no longer on the register · serial 87-1002
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The empennage assembly of the experimental race plane separated and the aircraft crashed during the first lap of an unlimited class heat race at the Reno National Championship Air Races. The wreckage was spread over approximately a 0.5-mile path. The first item located in the wreckage path was the lower half-span of the rudder control. Approximately 1/8 mile further along the debris path was a wreckage field about 500 feet long containing the remainder of the empennage (including the rudder trim tab), except the rudder upper half-span. The rudder upper half-span, including the mass balance, was located about 1,900 feet to the right of the debris field. When laid together, the rudder exhibited a shredded appearance through the midspan forward of the rudder trim tab location. Review of a spectator video recording taken from the rear in the seconds before the accident showed that, while the other parts of the aircraft were visible, the rudder and vertical stabilizer were not visible. The video technician opined that the disappearance of the vertical fin and rudder might have been the result of 'video smearing' if the rudder was moving rapidly and the video image recorder rate could not keep up with it. The precipitating event was not determined during extensive reconstruction and analysis of the empennage.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 6,500 hours in all; 2,000 in this make and model; 30 in the last 90 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: frt
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 113 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, July 25, 1999; 24 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 9,800 lb
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Rolls-Royce GRIFFON MK-58 (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: 4SD at 10:50 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 070° at 4 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 10,000 ft; scat at 6,000 ft
- Temperature: 73°F (23°C), dew point 46°F (8°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 10:56 pm from RNO, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.