Reno Air Show officials reassure event's safety
January 12, 2012, 06:52 pm
An incident at the Reno Air Show last September took the lives of 11 people and almost prevented the event from being held in 2012. While show officials are not making any drastic changes to the air race safety rules, the organizers say the event will be safe.
At a public hearing, John McGraw, the Federal Aviation Administration's deputy director of flight standards service, said the National Transportation Safety Board is reviewing the safety regulations for the show in response to last year's accident, which injured 70 spectators with flying debris. The FAA only plans to make significant changes to the show's rules if the agency becomes aware of a risk it finds unacceptable. The agency will, however, make changes to clarify the existing safety regulations that were violated when the accident occurred.
According to the Los Angeles Times, John Cudahy, president of the International Council of Air Shows, said the United States requires longer distances between spectators and aircrafts during air shows as a safety precaution.
"The U.S. is the most conservative in the world," Cudahy said. "In Europe, there is more of a patchwork of regulations."
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