NTSB Publishes Final Report on Reno Midair Collision 

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on the fatal midair collision between two North American T-6 aircraft during the 2023 Reno Air Races. The report determined both pilots failed to see and avoid each other while entering the traffic pattern for Reno-Stead Airport. Contributing factors included deviations from standard base and downwind legs.

According to the NTSB, Race 14, a North American AT-6B, and Race 6, a North American T-6G, had completed the race course and were maneuvering for Runway 8 when the collision occurred. Witnesses described Race 14 flying a wider base leg while Race 6 flew a tighter downwind. 

NTSB issues its final report on the September 2023 midair collision involving a North American T-6G airplane and a North American AT-6B airplane during an air race in Reno, Nevada: https://t.co/jmnESgc4Kw pic.twitter.com/qJvaAuDfPl

— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) September 3, 2025

“The wider pattern flown by Race 14, and the tighter pattern flown by Race 6, placed Race 14 to the right of Race 6’s flight path,” investigators wrote in the report. 

The report notes it is likely that Race 6 may have been looking to the left for Race 14’s base leg. 

Both aircraft sustained substantial damage and the pilots, ages 65 and 67, were killed. The Air Races ended their decades-long run in Reno in 2023, although the National Championship Air Races are set to resume for the first time later this month in Roswell, New Mexico.