2 pilots dead in collision at National Championship Air Races in Nevada

Two pilots were killed Sunday when their planes collided upon landing at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada, race organizers said.

The planes collided about 2:15 p.m. at the end of the event’s T-6 Gold race, the Reno Air Racing Association said in a statement.

The pilots haven’t been publicly identified.

Racing was suspended as first responders and investigators descended on the scene at Reno Stead Airport, the association said.

No other deaths or injuries were reported.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it would investigate.

The T-6 class of racing pits “stock,” propeller-driven North American Aviation T-6 Texan aircraft, first flown as training planes in the prewar era, in contests of speed and agility.

The annual races began Wednesday and were scheduled to conclude Sunday.

On Sept. 18, 2022, a jet-propelled Aero L-29 Delfín racing in a final crashed behind a residential area in Reno, killing the pilot.

In 2011, several spectators were killed when a 1940s-model plane slammed into a crowded tarmac at the event. Nine people, including at least seven on the ground and the pilot, were killed.