NOT for the Weak of Stomach
Not going to say TOO much here.
Galloping Ghost was flying in the speed race, to try and make it into the finals. He passed up Rare Bear and was finally in third and was flying over the pit for Merlin's Magic when Merlin's pit crew members heard something snap in the tail. Then they saw the elevator come off a bit.
Jimmy had begun to pull himself out of his steep dive by the time he reached over where my dad, little brother, and I were standing. But then the wind hit him and pulled her into a Split-S and then a Half-circle. Then he began to dive with speed.
The first thing that I could think of when Galloping Ghost was being thrown into the air was "Oh shit.. Eli." and all I could do to help anybody do was just grab him and pull his face into my stomach and do my best to shield him. Man. I've never felt so bloody helpless in my life, just watching it go down on those people. I think now I know just a little bit of the horror that people felt on 9/11 while watching the planes crash into the World Trade Towers. I could just stand there holding Eli and praying hard that people would be ok, and thanking God that he had protected my family. Hell, everything else that happened was worth it, if that's the equivalent exchange for not being hit.
We were somewhat about 100ish ft. from where it went down, and shrapnel went everywhere. I got a bit in the arm, but I'm perfectly fine, I'm just glad neither Dad nor Eli got hit.
Friends of ours that were closer got hurt pretty badly. And were splattered with human flesh.
The Ghost left a huge crater in the ground and hit so hard that the entire plane turned to dust. All that's left is a wing. There were body parts strewn everywhere.
They say that the official body count at the moment is 9, but I know there's more than that. There were so many... parts, strewn around.. and how the plane hit and turned to dust. You know that some people were as well. We won't know for certain the true amount until people don't return home, or fail to show up for work..
All we can do now is pray for the families of the people that were affected. And hope (in my case) that the Reno Air Races will continue. Accidents happen everywhere, all the time, in any sport, for both viewers and participants, such as your car racing and tons of people going over cliffs just by hiking in Yellowstone.
