 |
Because I’m a big fan of airplanes, it goes without saying that I like airshows as well. One of my most favorite was the Blue Angels show in Wisconsin in 2000. And because a friend of mine was working for one of the sponsors, we got some VIP passes to meet the pilots the night before the show and hang out with them…pretty cool. We also got to sit way up in front to watch the show, so that was great as well. But it’s the flying that’s important, and the Blue Angels do it as well as anyone.
Split-second timing, precision coordination, and total commitment to the acrobatics are all required by the pilots. The show I saw featured a rare mechanical failure on one of the F-18’s. The plane simply pulled out of formation, landed on the runway, and waited for his teammates to finish. We barely noticed any problem at all. But at speed, even the smallest error in an airshow can have catastrophic consequences…as it did on August 28, 1988.
The Frecce Tricolori, a pretty well-known group of precision flyers, was performing an air show at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. One of the maneuvers called the “Pierced Heart” features a aircraft that appears to fly right through the remaining formation. Performed right over the runway at low altitude, it requires precise speed and altitude to make it look right. Unfortunately, the “heart piercer” got his altitude and speed just wrong and, instead of flying just above the converging aircraft, his Aermacchi MB 339A flew right into the formation, colliding with 2 other planes.
The two “other” craft immediately crashed down the runway, killing both their pilots. But the third, which was supposed to fly over the crowd, careened into the crowd in a massive fireball. There are many videos on the web that show the crash, and I remember it well as it was played on TV over and over again. Tragically, not only were the three pilots killed, but 67 people on the ground lost their lives as well, with hundreds more injured.
My wife often says that it only takes a third of a second for a person’s life to change and, if you watch the video link of this disaster, those words were never more true.
NOTE: I’m off for a couple days again. I hope to be back at the desk on Sunday…Monday at the latest. Enjoy the Labor Day Weekend…be safe!!!
Today's History Lesson 