The number of people killed when a pilot lost control of his vintage plane and crashed into spectators during an air race over Reno, Nevada, rose to nine Saturday.

Seven people died on the tarmac, including the pilot, and two more died in hospitals, Reno police said. Officials had previously put the death toll at three. Close to 60 were injured in the incident, which occurred Friday.

National Transportation Safety Board member Mark Rosekind said investigators are looking at whether the plane’s apparently damaged elevator trim tab — whose breaking apart was captured in a photograph — played a role in the nosedive crash. Authorities do not know why the aircraft went down.

“We’re aware of that, and in fact, a component has been recovered in the area where it was observed, but it’s critical at this point to note that we have not identified this component,” Rosekind told reporters. “It will be examined, so we don’t know what the component is and whether it came from this particular aircraft.”

A full investigation could take six to nine months, he said.

Investigators will be poring over a trove of spectators’ videos and photos, he said.

“It seems there were a tremendous number of cameras and video that was captured,” he said. “On the one hand, it’s an excellent source of information, but on the other hand, there’s not a lot of other specific components from the wreckage that at this point we can identify.”

At the time of the crash, three NTSB investigators happened to be at the air show — a common practice — and one of them has been appointed investigator in charge, Rosekind said.

The board will look at safety oversight and the placement of the grandstands for the air race, Rosekind said.

Investigators are also looking into whether the plane had a black box, Rosekind said.

The pilot, identified as Jimmy Leeward, a real estate developer from Ocala, Florida, was killed in the crash, according to a show official. The 74-year-old was flying a P-51 Mustang.

Several witnesses were calling the pilot a hero because he maneuvered the plane away from the crowded grandstands at the last moment.

Ben Cissell said the plane crashed about 100 feet from where he was seated.

“I think that pilot in the last seconds pulled up because he saw the bleachers and saved about 200 or 300 others,” Cissell said.

Kim Fonda said she also saw the plane streaking toward where she was seated in the grandstand.

“I closed my eyes and said, ‘I am going to die now,’ ” Fonda said. “I was literally preparing to die and then he jerked the plane away and it landed like 25 feet from us. I want his family to know he was a hero.”

Video of the crash, posted on YouTube, showed a plane plummeting from the sky, sending up clouds of dust and debris. Shocked spectators rose to their feet.

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