Reno air crash death toll hits 11

An 11th person has died from injuries sustained during a plane crash that marked the United States' deadliest air racing disaster, police in Reno, Nev., say.

Relatives had reported Cheryl Elvin, 71, of Lenexa missing after the Friday crash at at annual National Championship Air Races. They had said she was likely dead because the relatives who attended the show with her were taken to area hospitals for critical injuries.

Officials from the medical examiner's office confirmed Tuesday that scientific identification proved Elvin was among the fatalities.

Earlier Tuesday, medical officials announced they they had confirmed the identity of another victim.

Craig Salerno, 50, the father of their two young children, was sitting in the VIP section when the Second World War-era P-51 Mustang dived into a crowd during the nation's premier aviation competition.

Salerno's friend was taken to the hospital with critical injuries, and the family said Tuesday they knew there was no way Salerno, an avid racing pilot there to watch the show, had survived.

"The family knew," said Tony Buzbee, a Salerno family spokesman. "There is no delicate way to say this; the problem was there was no way to confirm he was dead other than DNA testing."

Identifying body parts

A spokesman for the medical examiner's office said investigators have been trying to identify body parts since the gruesome accident. The names of all the known fatal victims had been confirmed by police or family by late Tuesday. Another 15 victims remained in area hospitals for treatment.

More than 1,300 people have called a Reno crisis line since the crash, many to report missing race spectators. Officials are trying to track down each missing person but have not released an official missing person count.

 A Nevada man who took his young son to see the racing pilots was also identified Tuesday as among the dead.

'Our family has a great faith, and we feel like things happen for a reason. It doesn't make it easier."' — Darlene McMichael, mother of crash victim

Virginia Craik told The Associated Press that her son, John Craik, 45, of Gardnerville, died from injuries sustained in the crash. Her grandson attended the race with his father. She said the boy, 12, was not seriously injured and is back in school.

"It's been tough," Virginia Craik said.

James McMichael, 47, of Graham, Wash., was also identified as a victim Tuesday by his mother, Darlene McMichael. She told the AP her son, who loved airplanes, was survived by his wife and an extensive family.

"Our family has a great faith," she said. "And we feel like things happen for a reason. It doesn't make it easier."

Crash unexplained

More than 70 people were treated for injuries, some of them life-threatening, in the unexplained crash that also took the life of  pilot James Leeward, 74, whose Second World War-era P-51 Mustang  dived into a crowd during the nation's premier aviation competition. Shrapnel sprayed at the fans, cutting off limbs and slicing through skulls.

During the races, planes flew wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 15 metres from the ground. The competitors followed an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft. Pilots reached speeds of up to 800 km/h.

Leeward was the 20th pilot to die at the races since it began 47 years ago, but Friday's crash was the first where spectators were killed. Some of the injured described being coated in aviation fuel that burned.

Leeward and his team had modified the plane beyond recognition, taking a full three metres off the wingspan and cutting the ailerons — control surfaces on the back edges of the wings —  by roughly 70 centimetres.

Leeward was a veteran air racer from Ocala, Fla., who flew in Hollywood films. His father worked in aviation and taught him the trade. He was married with two adult sons. Leeward loved speeding, on the ground or in the air, and had recently taken up racing cars.

The others killed who have been identified were Sharon Stewart, 47, of Reno; Greg Morcom, 47, of Marysville, Wash.; Michael Wogan, 22, of Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Regina Bynum, 53, of San Angelo, Texas.

Two Canadians were among the victims. George Hewitt, 60, and his wife, Wendy, 57, of Winnipeg were seated on the tarmac, in the first few rows of VIP box seats, when the plane crashed.