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Investigators say confusion between pilots may have led to crash which left Ventura County man dead

The crash scene where two pilots died at an air show Sunday.
Truckee Meadows Fire And Rescue
The crash scene where two pilots died at an air show September 17, including one from Thousand Oaks

Two planes collided while landing at the National Championship Air Races in Reno in September. A Thousand Oaks pilot was one of the two who died.

Federal investigators say confusion between pilots may have led to a mid-air collision at the Reno air races which left both of them dead, including one from Ventura County.

The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on the September 17 crash at the National Championship Air Races.

The report includes eyewitness accounts from a third pilot who was in the air at the time of the collision. The two planes involved were preparing to land. The witness told NTSB investigators that neither of the planes that collided were where you would expect them to be in landing patterns.

Chris Rushing and Nick Macy died in the crash. Rushing was from Thousand Oaks, and Macy was from Siskiyou County, in Northern California.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.