NTSB Probes Crash Landing At Reno Air Races After Engine Trouble

RENO, Nev. (AP) - The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate a crash landing involving a Utah pilot at the National Championship Air Races in Reno earlier this month.

The pilot, Peter Zaccagnino, owns the High Performance Aircraft Group based in Park City. He escaped uninjured after he experienced engine trouble and was forced to land his Dehavilland DH115 Vampire more than a mile short of the runway at Stead Airport on Sept. 16.

The NTSB said in a preliminary report Monday he was competing in a preliminary heat of the Jet Class Gold Race when he heard a loud bang and noticed a crack in the right side of the jet's canopy. He attempted to restart the engine twice unsuccessfully before initiating a forced landing with the landing gear retracted.

The plane is registered to CB Aviation Inc. in Ogden, Utah.

The crash comes two years after a pilot died during a qualifying run. Lee Behel, 64 of San Jose, was killed when his plane fell out of the sky.

A crash on Sept 16, 2011 at the Reno Air Races killed 11 people including the pilot of The Galloping Ghost, 74-year-old Jimmy Leeward. The P-51D that dates back to WWII had undergone massive modifications.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.