Family vows to overcome Nevada air race tragedy
By SCOTT SONNER
The Associated Press
SCOTT SONNER The Associated Press
Updated: 2011-09-22T08:04:23Z
Cathleen Allison
Members of the Elvin family addressed reporters Wednesday in Reno, Nev. Cherie Elvin, 71, was killed in last week’s crash, which also injured four members of the Elvin family, including Brian Elvin (center).
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Family vows to overcome Nevada air race tragedy
For the Elvin family, the National Air Race Championships had become an annual pilgrimage from their home base in the Kansas City area and across the country.
Despite the trauma of last week’s air race, where matriarch Cherie Elvin was killed and four family members were seriously injured, the family gathered Wednesday at a Reno hospital to assure supporters that their brood was getting better.
And more importantly, to say that Cherie Elvin died doing what she loved best.
“There wasn’t any other place she’d rather be,” said Jim Elvin, 41, a son from Atlanta who was not hurt in the accident. He was standing Wednesday alongside brother Brian Elvin, 49, a pilot who lost part of his right leg in the accident but already was out of a wheelchair and using a walker.
“We want everyone to understand, as tragic as what happened to her, she was where she wanted to be with her family. She was enjoying those races,” he said.
Allen Martin Elvin, a cousin, added: “Cherie would not want this accident, as tragic as it is, to be the reason the air races are canceled.”
“She loved it and we believe she would want all of us to continue to love it,” said Allen Martin Elvin, who goes by the name Allen Martin in his work as a CBS news anchorman in San Francisco.
He served as family spokesman during a half-hour news conference Wednesday at Renown Regional Medical Center.
“As a family, the Elvins have been attending them for more than 16 years. It was more than just an event. It was a chance for a little mini-family reunion which actually then became a tradition.”
Chuck Elvin, a retired TWA pilot living with his wife Cherie in Lenexa, remained in critical condition but was talking Wednesday and showing signs of the “Elvin sense of humor,” Allen Elvin said.
Brothers Bill and Brian, both of Overland Park, were listed in fair condition; Brian’s wife, Linda Elvin, was in serious condition at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center across town.
It was John — Jim, Bill and Brian’s brother — who first started dragging other family members to the air races in Reno about 16 years ago, they said.
“After that, the Elvins planned for it every single year,” Allen Martin Elvin said. “Because you didn’t dare have a scheduling conflict when it came time for the Reno Air Races.”
Jim Elvin resisted at first but now makes the trip every year and can’t imagine not attending again next year.
“It took them a couple of years to talk me into flying out to Reno to see these guys fly their planes,” he said. “It’s a bug. It will bite you.”
NO CHANCE
Jimmy Leeward, the aviator whose plane crashed at the Reno, Nev., air races, had no chance to save his flight after likely losing consciousness from forces more extreme than what most fighter pilots endure, flying experts said Wednesday.
The aircraft shot skyward Friday before crashing at what appeared to be full throttle. Investigators continue to look for a cause of the crash at the National Championship Air Races, which could take months.
Experts who have reviewed amateur videos from the scene, photographs and witness accounts say it appears Leeward wasn’t controlling the plane in its last seconds.
Experts say the plane might have been traveling at more than 400 mph when it went vertical, exerting 11 times the force of gravity on Leeward, knocking him unconscious.
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