Reno, Nev (KRNV & MyNews4.com) -- A second lawsuit has been filed following September's deadly Reno air races crash.
The lawsuit blames pilot Jimmy Leeward, and the Reno Air Racing Association, for the disaster.
One of the injured in the crash was California man Gerry De Treville, who lost an eye in the crash, and whose friend in attendance was killed. Now De Treville has hired a San Diego law firm to file suit on two main points. First, that Jimmy Leeward's plane was dangerously-modified for unsafe speeds. And second, that the Reno Air Racing Association, after inspecting the modified plane, should have never let it compete.
Lawyer David Casey explains his client's basis.
"What he didn't know -- and what other spectators didn't know -- is that the Reno Air Racing Assocation allowed an untested, and experimental plane to compete when the owner and designer of the plane had knowledge it was untested and experimental," said Casey.
The suit states that because of the modifications, "...no one, including the pilot, knew what would happen when the aircraft was operated at top speed, which was now at or above 550 miles per hour. RARA performed a pre-race inspection, and allowed the aircraft to race despite not knowing the result of the radical modifications."
The first lawsuit filed last week was for $25 million. This second suit does not ask for a specific amount -- at least not yet.
Reno Air Racing Assocation CEO Mike Houghton expects more suits to come. He says that for now, the association will largely be "on the sidelines", so to speak, until these matters progress and go to court.
