THE second deadly air show crash in 24 hours has left one pilot dead in West Virginia and prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to dispatch an investigator to the site where an aerobatic demonstration plane plunged into a runway and exploded as spectators looked on.

The death toll from an air race crash in Reno, Nevada, rose to nine as investigators said the 1940s plane appeared to lose a piece of its tail before slamming into a crowded tarmac.

A US firefighter has been charged with arson after setting fire to his mother's mobile home because he was unhappy with her untidiness.