RENO, Nev., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Reno Air Racing Association officials said the National Championship Air Races are set for Sept. 12-16 in Nevada.
Officials said if the air races do not happen, a special air show will be performed to memorialize the victims of the 2011 National Air Races crash that killed 11 people and injured 70, the Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal reported.
Air race officials said there were a number of obstacles to holding the air race in September, including securing a list of local permits and federal aviation waivers before the first race begins and getting accreditation from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Gazette-Journal reported.
The FAA now requires all air racing associations nationwide to go through an accreditation process, after there was a problem with a southern California air race, officials said.
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"In the days and months after the accident, we grappled with the future of the air races," Mike Houghton, president of the Reno Air Racing Association, said Wednesday.
Houghton said after receiving "impassioned e-mails and phone calls from people all around the world," the association was motivated "to do everything we can to preserve and continue this historic event."
Reno Mayor Bob Cashell said he is 100 percent behind the plan.
"We're going to do whatever is necessary to make sure we have the National Championship Air Race in Reno this year," Cashell said Wednesday.
Spectator Eric Behne of San Luis Obispo, who, along with his girlfriend, was injured in the crash, said he hopes the races happen this year.
"I've talked with my parents and my whole family is planning to go back," Behne. "We've been going for 15 years and absolutely want to go back."
