Pilot killed when plane goes down during air races

Sunday, Sept. 19, 1999 | 10:47 a.m.

A young girl on the ground was treated after she was hit in the finger by flying shrapnel, said Tom Medland, a spokesman for the Airport Authority Washoe County.

Gary Levitz, 61, of Grand Prairie, Texas, was flying in the last heat of the 36th annual National Championship Air Races when structural damage in the tail of the P-51 Mustang plane caused it to break apart in the air, Medland said. Federal authorities still were investigating the crash in Lemmon Valley, about 12 miles north of Reno, he said.

The Mustang is the most powerful plane in the five classes that race in the competition, and is capable of speeds above 400 mph. Medland said he did not know at what altitude Levitz was flying when the plane went down.

Bruce Lockwood of Mojave, Calif., flew past his six fastest rivals, reaching speeds up to 470 mph to post the best finish in the final qualifying Unlimited heat at the races.

Lockwood's red and white modified P-51, Dago Red, held off Strega, Dreadnought, Critical Mass, Ridge Runner, Miss Ashley II and Rare Bear, rounding the eight-mile pylon course at Reno-Stead Airport on Friday at an average of better than 456 mph.

"We backed off at 470 to 435, but then went back to 468," Lockwood said of a cat and mouse game played with Bill Destefani's P-51, Strega.

In the end Dago Red won.

Destefani, who rarely loses, replied, "I wanted to give him a chance."

In the same race, Matt Jackson of Calabasas, Calif., made an emergency landing in the big No. 77 Rare Bear.

"I don't know what happened," he said in the pits. "It just sneezed."

There was evidence he had hit a bird.

The finals were continuing Sunday with crowds approaching 50,000.

In the hotly contested Formula Ones, class champion Jon Sharp of Lancaster Calif., got revenge Friday against former champ Ray Cote of El Cajon, Calif., who had beaten him in a heat race a day earlier.

Sharp's Nemesis ran at 242 mph to take the checkered flag first. Cote's Alley Cat dropped out on the next to last lap.