Hoover gives some of the best, if not THE best descriptions of aircraft accidents on this platform. No BS, no music, just facts. Keep up the great work!
The older brother of a massive bully I grew up with was at the Ramstein AFB when the crash happened there. He was in the Airforce and had stopped off to watch the airshow. He remembered the crash and rescuing several people out of harm's way, then as he was carrying a child out he suddenly woke up in a hospital bed. He'd been on fire the entire time and didn't even realize it. He was just so focused on getting people out that he didn't notice his clothes were on fire. He was a big guy and I can imagine the poor kids, scared and alone, and here comes a burning giant to save them. He got the highest award you can get in peace time, but his injuries forced him out of the military. His little brother was a massive asshole, but he was amazing. I was really shocked when I heard what had happened to him.
I saw a guy with the same kind of action, albeit in a car accident. All of us present when it happened saw a VW beetle turn a corner and come to an abrupt stop, and the next second, huge flames erupted from the engine. Everybody in the car got out safe and was just standing there when a little girl suddenly said that Lisa was still in there. All of us turned pale. The car had flames coming out of the doors at that point. Then a 40ish man sprinted to the car, simply climped into the flames and searched for "Lisa." He came out shortly after with a pretty badly burned doll in his hand, and most of his clothes on fire. And he didn't scream in pain or anything. All he could think about was "Thank God. It's a doll. Not a girl." That's when just about all of us were on him like a ton of bricks with jackets and sweaters and whatever else we had to put out the flames in his clothes. And that is when he started screaming in pain. But he still could only think about that girl luckily not being in there. He survived and had to undergo several skin grafts as I understand it before he could resume life and work. But to this day, he is still the most selfless and brave man I have ever met or seen. Right up there with that friend of yours who performed so extraordinary and brave.
@@Jens-Viper-NobelWow. A really brave man. But on the other hand... all of this because a child made him believe there was an actual person still in the car.
The entertainment vs risk ratio doesnt seem remotely worth it at these airshows. It's like watching a target shooting contest, but the stands are behind the targets
I know a guy at the local community center who told me he was at the Reno airshow/race in 2011. He said a metal fragment whizzed past his head when the plane hit the ground and disintegrated. There were no visible remains of the pilot and two of the spectators were unidentifiable. The plane engine was running full throttle when it hit and the momentum from the moving engine parts was transferred into the spray of metal debris that struck people hundreds of feet from the impact point. He said there were identifiable engine fragments on the ground almost 1/4 mile away.
Everyone that died at the Shoreham airshow was on the A27 dual carrageway waiting at traffic lights. I was there, my elderly dad and I were at the north end of Shoreham airport and what we saw was truly horrific. We tried to help people before emergency services arrived but there was little we could do.
I watched Bob Hover at the Lincoln airshow in 1972, flew the mustang and a Rockwell twin. Bob flew the pants off that twin, top of a large loop shutdown both engines, did a high speed pass over the runway at about 300 feet, then pulled into a loop at the runway end landing with both engines off. He was simply a amazing guy.
The English Hunter pilot should have gone to jail. It wasn't the first time he violated the safety limits. There's another airshow in England where his display got interrupted by the safety manager on the ground due to violating the safety limits. This individual had a history of overestimating his abilities and endangering the spectators. He should have gone to jail for his ignorance.
My old roommate was on the Nimrod. I am pretty sure that the newspaper picture you have included in the video is actually the crew of the Nimrod that went down in Afghanistan. There was a similar shot the day after the Canadian crash. Blue skies Bernie.
@pilot-debrief It was a long time ago, but the crash does still haunt me. Somewhere, there is a film made by someone in Canada who had been following the crew, which included a video of them boarding the aircraft. To see him alive as I remembered him was a real jolt. Bernie and I shared a room at RAF Brawdy for about 18 months, and we got along pretty well. Before going Aircrew, he was a flight simulation engineer. Whenever I see the crash, I hear his voice clearly in my mind. The only real comfort is that they would not have felt a thing, though they would have known it was coming. I witnessed the same display routine at Fairford a short time earlier, and the display looked a bit dodgy to several of us working there. We all held our breath but figured they must know what they're doing. Too many crews away from home try to make their displays a bit punchy to impress other crews. Still, great video, keep them coming. Much more informative than the usual offerings on here.
Yeah, the picture was the Afghan crash crew. I used to sub-aqua dive with Gary "Q" Quilliam (top row, third from right) God bless you mate. Til we buddy up again...
Regarding the Nimrod crash at Toronto in 1995, I would like to point out that the photo of the crew (and Army personnel) your displaying is that of Nimrod XV230 which crashed in Afghanistan in September 2006, through no fault of their own. The Cave-Haddon report exposed a long standing design issue, coupled with lack of due diligence on behalf of the relevant Engineering and Design Authorities, which resulted in a catastrophic in flight fire.
Thank you for the info. It would be only fair, that the hack Video creator made a personal thank to you and an apology to all involved. I fear this uploader is much more interested in the clicks, rather than the lives and families, who are affected by a crash. Getting the information correctly can affect many. Instead of arrows in his thumb nails, he should slow down and be sure that the info is correct. Cheers from Canada
Thanks for the video. A little surprised not to see Bud Holland's infamous B-52 crash from 1994 included - I know the accident flight was only a practice flight for an upcoming airshow, but he is surely worth a mention every time as to how NOT to fly a plane. Personally think it would be well worth its own piece looking at his dangerous temperament + the associated failures in command that allowed Holland to kill himself along with three other unfortunates.
If you read Andy Browns “warnings unheeded” it explains this in great detail, brown was an Air Force security policeman who stopped a mass shooter at Fairchild AFB days before the b-52 crash and he wrote a book about both incidents. His book is very well researched and it includes how Holland had been reckless for years and numerous commanders has wanted to remove him from flight duties
The B-52 is a notably poor choice for an aerobatic aircraft as it lacks ailerons, using spoilers instead. Spoilers depend upon reducing the lift of one of the wings to roll the aircraft in that direction. Ailerons, OTOH, both reduce lift on one wing and increase lift on the other. Video of the accident shows the up-wing spoilers fully deployed, but the plane stopped responding as the wing was already stalled (not producing lift). ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Lbcsfqqqe7Q.html Holland was trying to make such an aggressive turn to avoid over-flying a restricted area (nuclear weapons storage facility). Poor flight planning resulted in this situation developing. Holland was a loose cannon who had multiple safety violations, but only received verbal reprimands. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Fairchild_Air_Force_Base_B-52_crash
I do not dare as well, On my first airshow, Harald Strößenreuther performed an aerobatic show that was miles beyond all others. I was looking forward seeing him again next year. Shortly before the show he crashed while instructing. Then I was at an airshow, where (again) Mark Hannah demonstrated a P-51 Mustang better than any other of the displays, Great, next year ... He crashed before that in a HA-1112, a spanish license built Bf 109 with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. On another airshow someone came with a replicia of the Spirit of St. Louis. Disintegrated in the air some months later. An acquaintance took me up in a Slingsby T-28, an open-side-by-side british glider. Great experience, it was totally peaceful up there, no wind, no noise, you could hear the birds singing on the ground. Some months later he went to a fly-in in eastern Europe, and there he died of a burst appendix. I am not superstitious, and people die when flying, but in the meantime I gave up. I do not want to risk other people's lives anymore.
The astonishing thing about the Farnborough air crash was that, after the dead and injured had been taken away, the air show carried on as if nothing had happened. Different times.
I watched the Frecce Tricolori display at the 1986 International Air Tattoo here in the UK. When they performed this manoeuvre with the singleton heading straight at me I couldn't believe it was allowed, and I instinctively threw myself to the ground, much to the bemusement of spectators around me. When I saw the Ramstein footage for the first time it was like having a premonition tragically realised.
I was there at Ramstein from 1985 through 1987. I always filmed at show center. I had one of them “Reggie Vision” camcorders with the little VCR on a strap! I rotated back to the states in early 1988 so I never saw that show with the accident. I may have been a casualty if I went that year. Karma was in my favor that time.
I was at Shoreham, if i close my eyes i can still see it to this day. I was amazed that thousands of people all stood dead quiet as we watched the smoke and flames.
My dad worked at Kaiserslautern Army Base with US Army and he was at the Rammstein show. Due to what he saw during the crash, he has never been to an airshow since. So sad
@@nathanielalgernon975 Since the lost of an starfighter formation in 1962 in Nörvenich, with 4 dead pilots, all demo teams has been stopped by the german air force. However, the german navy had an F104 demo team, but only with low risk, normal flight shows.
As always, a concise examination of events, presented so an average, non aviator can understand yet with enough detail that those more aviation oriented can gain a better understanding. Well done, sir !
@@pilot-debriefthey guy who crashed at the Shoreham show also displayed at the Bray airshow in ireland only about 2 weeks earlier which i attended and i thought he was reckless then aswell
@@pilot-debriefthe tragic thing about Ramstien is if pony ten (after realising he messed up) had continued on the trajectory he was on and NOT pulled up to correct his mistake he would have fllown under the 2 formations safley
Considering the immense number of fatalities injuries end loss of aircraft you would think air shows would become a thing of the past. I was at Flugtag in '88, an EC130 flight engineer, on static display and saw it first hand, I felt the heat of the explosions.And wreckage skidded past our aircraft, I've had nightmares ever since, and i've never gone to another air show.
A sombre subject, but an excellent, well-made and informative video, with no histrionics, silly music or doom-laden commentary. Thank you from England.
My grandma lived in Farnborough and witnessed John Derry's crash. Her vivid recollection was seeing a decapitated body remain upright for several seconds before collapsing to the ground. A horrific accident.
A builder I used to work for was an RAF fireman at Farnborough at the time of this crash. A nasty job for them clearing up the various bits and pieces.
In WW2, during an attack on an American carrier, two crewmen were running to battle stations, when one crewman was beheaded by flying debris. Witnesses say his headless body took four more running steps before it collapsed.
I was one of the Jordanian Team members during the Ostend Airshow crash in 1997. Omar started his sequence from a steep dive going into a rolling loop parallel with the display line after which he transitioned to an outside rolling circle - rolling left but turning right towards the crowd. The x-wind was high pushing Omar towards the crowds. during the rolling circle. after 270 deg of turn Omar was on top of the crowds (100 metres inside the prohibited crowd line) when he transitioned from a rolling circle while inverted into a tumble (Flip-flop) manoeuvre at less than 300 feet when he should have been at least 800 feet if he were to recover by 300! He & the poor spectators were doomed the moment he executed the tumble at less than 300 feet while on top of the crowd. He was most likely unaware of his situation due to his strong desire to impress & win an unofficial & illegal competition in an official Airshow setting. Patrick Steen the Display Director who was supposed to be supervising flight safety from the Tower never gave the “Termination” call which should have been called on display frequency at least 60 seconds before the tumble when Omar had clearly crossed inside the minimum display line of 150 metres from the crowds! It was a terribly sad & tragic day for All who were present. What was supposed to be a day of pleasure & happiness turned into a nightmare for ALL. 🥲
One British man would like to say that I see Jordan as a shining light in The Middle East, and I honour Jordan's strong links to Britain's armed forces. With all the focus on Arabs now known as "Palestinians", most people are unaware that within one year of the start of the British Mandate of Palestine, Britain created the Arab country of Transjordan, with it's monarchy, and that Jordanians have made a success of both country and monarchy. Quite an achievement, since Jordan is surrounded by turbulent events! Most also do not know that in 1970 and 1971, Jordan had a serious internal war with Palestinians, who were usurping Jordan's authority. I am also aware of the greening of the desert, led by Queen Rania, and hope that the whole Middle East can learn from each other's achievements, particularly in the better use of water. Looking to the future, the Middle East faces great challenges, and I feel sure that Jordan will play it's part in creating a better future for all. /
I was at that Toronto Air Show one and was a young kid. Lucky for us, this was the first year they decided to move the show away from crowds and decided to have everything flown over the water. RIP to those who passed that day.
It was a refrigeration trailer, we called reffers when I was at Ramstein. I never heard what was stored in the trailer. The plane was leaning against the trailer and stayed there for few days during the investigation Ihe refueled UH 60s evacuating casualties to Lansthul Army hospital, I refueled some of the Aerimacchi 339 that flew that day.
It was full of ice cream. It was sitting perpendicular to the runway, with the audience on the other side. That trailer stopped the plane from sliding into the majority of the 300,000 spectators. The crash and the aftermath were so horrific, makes me sick to think about. Never went to another airshow.
I was hoping you would mention the B52 crash at Fairchild, which was a practice session for the next day's airshow. Maybe you could do a video on that incident, and the responsible arrogant pilot with a long history dangerous stunts. Thanks, love the channel
The Sacramento crash was a perfect example of a very dangerous, but well known, handling issue with the F-86 and it's Canadian cousins. Many USAF pilots crashed in training due to the tendency of the F-86 to over rotate on takeoff if rotation was initiated early. If the pilot had received any transition training he would have known better.
In my youth 5 crewmembers and 39 parachutist from US, France, Germany, England and Canada lost their lives at an airshow by a Chinook helicopter crash in 1982 in Mannheim, Germany. One rotorblade disintegrated after a few minutes from start and caused the crash. Please research. This airshow-accident is not so well known and never list anywhere though it was horrible.
I was at the Toronto Air Show the day the Nimrod crashed. It stunned the crowd. I too was stunned and it remains the only plane crash I have ever witnessed personally - and that was one too many.
Several Air Force personnel that I knew during my time in the service (and later as a Contractor) were at the Ramstein Air Show that day. One guy was working the air show while his wife and one of his kids were watching the air show. His family was close enough to the crash that the wife sustained minor burns and his daughter had some cuts from a piece of metal that hit her on the legs. The others were more fortunate and escaped without injuries being in another section away from the crash site. One of those NCO's (and his family) who witnessed that Ramstein incident was unfortunate to experience a similar incident several years later in 1994, while he was helping to shut down the B-52 Air Wing at Fairchild AFB in Washington. He witnessed the crash of the infamous "Czar 52" B-52 being flown by a known high-risk flier (Lt Col Bud Holland) that killed everyone on board and almost hit the Weapons Storage Area as well as the Control Tower. To compound a bad week at Fairchild, earlier that week his wife was working at the Base Hospital (she was a volunteer) when a gunman shot the several people in the same building before, he was finally stopped by a Security Policeman (who made an incredible 75-yard head shot with a Beretta handgun). She wasn't hurt, but between that incident, the B-52 crash, and Ramstein Air Show, these tragedies convinced them it was time for him to retire from the Air Force.
I was in the Army stationed at Pirmasans, about an hour from Ramstein AB, at that time. One of our soldiers wife was at the air show and she was killed.
Ironically, I saw the Frecce Tricolori at the 1997 RAF Mildenhall airshow in their first show since the Ramstein accident outside Italy, in addition to watching the Jordanians that that would have their accident in the very next airshow, Belgium. By the way, the Frecci Tricolori was, by far, the best aerobatics team of the seven (!) that displayed that weekend.
At about that time (I don't remember where) I saw the Frecce Tricolori display their aircraft and it was the best display I had seen. They were highly impressive.
Very well done on these, well reported and described. Thank you. Very sad days for so many in the air show disasters and RIP to the dear souls that perished.
We lived on a mountain off base and saw the smoke and fire of a plane crash. Our father was a corpsman and we knew he was on the flight line that day. When he returned home that evening, we asked him what happened. He paused for a moment and said "Blood, guts, and feathers, but no brains." I never forgot those words when I was learning to fly.
My dad worked for the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) as an accident investigator. He ended up being the one that studied the flight reorder data from accidents. This was while the data was being recorded on metal tape. The CAB was actually changed into the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and not into the FAA. Just thought I would share this.
The CAB existed until 1985 when it was finally dismantled following the deregulation of commercial airlines in 1978. Many of the air traffic control and air safety responsibilities of the CAB were transferred to the FAA when it was created in 1958. The accident investigation responsibilities of the FAA were then transferred to the NTSB when it was created in 1967, and it became fully independent in 1975. The CAB, FAA, and NTSB were all separate agencies from 1967 to 1978.
I am station at ramstein and work in the passenger terminal, there’s a couple articles posted around the terminal talking about the incident and something’s you might not know is that the only ambulance for the event was destroyed by one of the aircraft’s that crashed. Because of that they called for german ambulances but they got stuck at the main gate trying to get on the base which ended up costing lives.
Yeah, I noticed, he didnt mention that. Its well known here in Europe, that the German ambulances and medical personnel were significantly delayed, coz the American guards kept refusing to let them in. Another thing, that cost lives, was the Americans just chucking ppl untreated on various trucks, pickups etc and driving to hospitals, some as much as 45 min away, while the German protocol was to assess and do initial treatment b4 taking them to the hospital. It also made it quite hard to get the number of dead and wounded and identify them, as I recall, that took several days, coz the Americans didnt even have any idea, how many they had taken from the airfield and to which hospitals. Unfortunately, several ppl died due to the delay in treatment, both through the Germans being denied access for an extended lengths of time and through being thrown on random vehicles completely untreated and taken on long drives.
I was 1988 in the German Army and one of those paramedics who rushed to the Ramstein-Airfield after that incident. It was a total chaos. Things happened which even a movie-regisseur couldnt imagine. F.e. there was a group of victims who where layed down in a normal bus of the USAF. The driver was told to reach the hospital asap. He needed about two hours than he asked German locals for help to find his destination. Or these lot of ppl, who had nearly no skin any more, but felt nothing, just looking on us. Those pictures I'll never forget. There is just one thing I want to mention: Don't use these machines for entertainment. I know esp. in the U.S. they are used in every situation, f.e. in NFL games and so on. but if you would have seen what I saw, you would decide to say "no" to that. And the story of the pilot who caused this was a bit more: As I was told, he was one of the pilots who forced down the plane with the hostage-takers of the "Achille Lauro" - case of 1985. So I was told that the fact that he climbed too high was in truth the result of a manipulation of his machine, carried out by the Libyan secret service just before that day. So, it is all a bit dusty, but the story is a bit bigger than "just" a crash.
@@sjb3460 It became known at the time - and quickly dropped again at the bottom of the table - that the machine's altimeter had been manipulated so that it showed an altitude that was too low. As a result, the plane flew too high - which triggered the disaster.
@@drau331you would think that if you were trying to cause a crash by manipulating the altimeter, wouldnt you want it to read too *high*, so the plane would fly closer to the ground?
I still remember the first time I watched the footage of the Ukraine crash. I watched it here on RU-vid years ago. It has since been taken down. It was put up again a few years later, and then taken down again. I'm figuring its still down. At least I hope it is. It's one of those videos you wish you could unsee. Because the horrific aftermath burns into your soul, and you can't forget what you had just seen. The footage is taken by 2 or 3 amateur camera men. Likely spectators with camcorders, who ran up to the wreckage. As they run up to the crash site, you begin to see debris from the crash all over the place. Lumps of unidentified pieces of plane. That is until you realize that many of those are not pieces of the plane at all, but they're pieces of people. A torso with no head or legs. A leg or arm here and there. Some you can't really tell what body parts your looking at other than you recognizing a hand or shoe in the mess. It was horrific. I'm an ex firefighter and medic, who worked for a large city for many years. I've seen ghastly injuries and unthinkable horrors. And I got used to seeing things like that. But I've never witnessed carnage on that scale before. And its something that you don't ever get used to.
My Aunt and Uncle were at the Farnborough air show. My mother told me when they came home they were still in shock and covered in other people's blood. They never spoke about it with me (way to young), but my uncle who was one of the most enthusiastic aviation nuts I've known, and never flew on any kind of plane for over 40 years.
I was supposed to go to Rammstein but I got a sore throat. The friends I went with were about as close to the accident as you could get without getting injured.
The Nimrod had been at an airshow here in my city the week before. I met and chatted with crew, even bought a few patches etc. When I heard that they had crashed and all the crew were killed, I cried. 😢
My father, his brother and their parents were at the Farnborough Air Show in 1952 and were in the crowd between the two impact points (the majority of injuries occurred behind them). Only found out when going through my fathers effects and his description of the accident was on a scrap of paper.
An historic document indeed! Life is a tenuous thread that is so easily severed, yet he survived, and you have life. Your ancestors and mine were close neighbours, where many lives were lost in turbulent times, as I am reseaching at the moment. /
I was at work about 2 miles from the Farrells Ice Cream Parlor disaster (The F86 crash). I was a recently licensed PPL and would have been at the airshow if not working. I saw the black smoke from the crash and was horrified at what must have happened. The aviation community was stunned at the magnitude of the disaster. The pilot didn't know what he didn't know until it's too late.
I was at the Shoreham 2015 airshow in person with one of my closest friends who invited me to go with him i can't believe it's already been 8 years from the crash. Around a week later I went to my local Clacton airshow and there was a moment of silence for those lost then followed by a round of applause from the spectators it brought a few tears to my eyes.😢 And the fact that Andy hill was found not guilty makes me sick to the stomach. 😠
You personally witnessed the 2015 Shoreham crash, and a week later you go to another airshow???? I'm not sure what to think about that. I know personally, there would be no way in hell I would be going to another airshow for quite some time after that.
@@M_SCNot exactly, i was there when dan fillers mig23 went down in michigan, and a few weeks later i was in cali watching the Miramar airshow. Life goes on. Edit. Just realized i technically saw the last Mig23 flight in america, damn
I was there too and i remember saying to my partner.. ‘he’s too low” when he started the loop, I was interviewed on a couple of radio stations and the bbc. It looked dodgy from the start to me .
In 2008 or so, I saw the aftermath of the Ukrainian accident on RU-vid. I was only 13. It was absolutely horrific, bodies were torn apart and strewn everywhere. I am happy that RU-vid changed their policy since then because that video was very traumatizing.
You did a wonderful job of narration, nice and easy to listen to without stuttering, urrrring and ahhhing and waffling like some of the other wannabe commentators, well done bud. The package was interesting and I actually watched it to the end which is something I don't usually bother with. Keep up the great work. Kind regards Ray. Rotorua NZ
Contributing to the fatalities at the Ramstein disaster was the lack of common technical standards regarding the medical emergency equipment, when ambulances of the US air base (US standards) brought patients into the German hospitals. Additionally, back then no training for large scale disasters existed, no common command post for organizing the efforts, etc.
I was actually at the Shoreham Airshow when WV372 went down. I've only been to one airshow since, and I was practically wetting myself every time a plane went even marginally close to the ground.
“Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.”
Hoover, as a retired MSgt USAF (supply/maint) your knowledge and explanation is excellent. We had a unit pilot eject from his A-7 (wedding) from NV to PA into a hotel front door.
The Nimrod in the run up to the Nimrod MR2 crash was a very different Mark. It’s a Nimrod R1 of 51 Sqn. RAF. No MAD boom is visible and it has significantly more antennas visible. This is a SIGINT/ELINT aircraft - not Maritime Reconnaissance.
Like the content. Could use a short pause in between stories and maybe slow down just a bit in general. Gives the viewer a moment to absorb what they have just seen/heard. Will definitely be watching more!
As far as I remember regarding the SU-27 accident, the pilots did train for the show but with less fuel than on the display day, without taking into account the difference in weight. So they planned to recover from the loop at the same speed/altitude, but the extra weight (and Physics) sent the plane critical meters down.
The Nimrod almost crashed in Shearwater, NS the week before. He went into a sharp bank and the plane literally slipped sideway down. From my vantage point, i would guess he loss at least 100ft altitude. I commented to my buddy that he had almost lost the aircraft. Unfortunately, I was not surprised to hear about the crash in Toronto. It was a sad event as we had met all the crew and toured the aircraft at the Shearwater airshow.
With regards to the F-86 crash, I didn't see in the report where the pilot actually said he was using the airspeed indicator for a rotation point (as he should have been doing). It is that he rotated too much 15° The pilot handbook says you should only rotate 5°. For sure the inexperience, or lack of knowledge of the pilot handbook, domed this flight from the beginning. In addition this pilot never received any training in a military jet like the T-33, so the FAA should have never granted him approval to fly that aircraft due to the lack of required traning. 😬
I have huge respect for pilots but despise airshows. I remember my parents taking me to one as a child and even then I hated it. It felt completely unsafe, and I just prayed the entire time that the pilots didn't crash. I didn't even want to look as the planes flew by. I was probably about 10 years old but I felt sick the entire time. Too nerve-wracking for me, but as I said, I respect pilots a lot.
Totally agree! I don't even like tight flight formations, much less aerobatics that require extraordinary skill to not die. There are plenty of completely safe and interesting flight maneuvers pilots could do at airshows (High speed pass, reasonable slow flight at a safe distance etc) that involve modest skill and nor real risk to the plane or anyone else. My friends don't want to hear it, but the Reno air races are insane to me. Less bad, but also dislikeable are high speed boat races; they are extremely dangerous demonstrations of who has the biggest checkbook.
Attended a lunch with that Nimrod crew the Friday before the crash. Good bunch of guys. Took a while to process watching them hit the water before the weekend was out.
In my time working at an airbase, there were two fatal air-show accidents. The first occurred during an air show and the second was while practicing for one.
I was present at Flugtag 1988 while stationed at Sembach AB Germany and captured the disaster on video. This was the scariest moment of my life as my family and I were located where the plane came into the crowd just an hour before the accident.
Growing up as a child of a naval aviator, I loved air shows. My father, being a friend of many Blue Angel pilots, we were always right up front. I was once asked to hold the small dog of a lady who was having her picture taken with the Blue Angels. Years later, my parents told me that the lady was Jane Mansfield. The dog was nice.
Had been at Ramstein and left spectators area while seeing that the doomed aircraft comes in right in the direction of the crowd. Strictly forbidden at any RC-airfield and they allowed it for a manned jet. So I was lucky and far away enough from the deadly zone. Planning was absolutely unprofessional. While planning such a performance it's to be considered that there is always risk for failure that nobody can exclude completely.
I live near Wichita, KS and I remember growing up in the early 70's people were always talking about a KC135 Tanker that had crashed in a local neighborhood in Wichita back in 1965. McConnel Air Force Base is in Wichita and is a tanker plane hub. The plane had like 30K gallons of aviation fuel and somehow lost control and crashed, killing all the crew members and several people (25 - 30) on the ground. I've driven by the crash site in later years and there's some type of small park there. I've also heard that after that crash, the tankers that fly in and out of McConnel now carry a nonflammable liquid when doing test flights.
@Pilot Debrief - I was a little kid when the crash into the Ice Cream shop in Sacramento happened. My family was supposed to be there to meet my Grandma for her birthday. My dad had our boat in tow, and there wasn't anywhere to park with the boat, so we went somewhere else. I was a little kid
I was at the Paris Airshow that day & watched incredulous as the Tu-144 crashed. I didn't see the Mirage but you can imagine how a desperate manoeuvre to avoid hitting it could have caused the break-up. Ten years later I saw the Italian aerobatic team perform just above the point where Lake Geneva narrows into the Rhone river - way too small an area to prevent spectators being hit in the event of an accident. A stunning performance but man, risky.
My dad was in the US army and stationed at Ramstein at the time, and unfortunately he was part of the “cleanup crew” and it kind of f*cked him up for the rest of his life. Incredibly tragic, rip to all lives lost in any accident.
You forgot what happened on November 12, 2022. To those who dont know, on November 12, 2022, at the Dallas Airshow, a P63 King Cobra and a B-17 collided in the air and crashed killing 4 people. rip.
I think the crash of one of the first Airbus A320s should be on the list. It occurred during the Habsheim Air Show and is still controversial due to a possible coverup to protect Airbus fly by wire as parts of the FDR were tampered with.
The flight controls were "tampered with" so certain safety systems could be disabled in order to show off the aircrafts capabilities outside of its normal operational envelope. This is likely the reason for the tampering with the FDR. Who could have guessed that anything could go wrong by disabling safety systems?
MISSED an even worse Air Show crash.... involving 4 AT6s at the Cape May Air show in June 1971. On the first turn, one AT6 tried to cut inside of another plane and snapped the wing off the other plane which crashed into the ground. Then, after the race commenced again, on the 2nd turn one AT6 tried to shoot the gap between 2 other planes, in which it hit the other 2 planes and all 3 planes crashed. Due to the deaths of 4 pilots in less than 5 mins, the Air Show terminated, even though there was supposed to be an air race of War Birds out over the Atlantic Ocean and back to land. I know about the incident because I WAS THERE and witnessed it firsthand. To me, this disaster was worse than any of the 10 depicted in this video.
I was at the Shoreham air show and if I remember correctly the Hawker Hunter flew along the runway prior to starting the loop. He climbed then inverted while rounding the top of the loop before coming back down. He seemed to not be able to pull up soon enough… I don’t know if it was due to insufficient airspeed over the control surfaces that he was unable to pull out of the dive. I couldn’t believe what I was watching at first but then after a few seconds I realised he’d crashed on the road and was totally stunned as were all the other spectators. I didn’t attend every year as I live in the area and regularly saw the planes flying over my house but the last 2 shows I went to there were crashes - this and a WW2 Hawker Hurricane previously when the plane malfunctioned and the brave pilot was able to guide it to an area on a hill away from the airport where it nose dived into the ground. I still feel sad for the 12 men who lost their lives in both of these incidents. My parents had also traveled from their home in Kent for both shows, unfortunate they both ended with sad memories for them
Interesting that the last report explained the rules of that airshow, which over time had the rules relaxed, with aircraft flying over the crowd from behind and from the front and got down to 150’ or less. In recent years, due to accidents, it’s gone back to the original 1951 rules.
On the Reno Air Race, 75 is pretty old to be racing anything. Having grown up in a family of racers, dirt bikes, jet boats, street bike racers, they all have one thing in common. They stepped down what they raced or how they played as they got older. For example, motocross to enduro to dirt biking for fun to mountain bikes for fun. Jet boat racing to sailboat racing to e-bike for fun. 75 is not 45 and reactions are not the same. I still believe age played a role in that accident.
arnborough accident from 1952 brings back on my mind to several old Pathé movies of what used to be SBAC (Society of British Aircraft Constructors) in late '40s and early '50s. It seems that there was an immense pressure on those Test Pilots performing in front of potential purchasers of their novelties placed on the VIP's balcony. New jet aircraft flew right over spectators at incredibly low altitudes performing highly demanding manouvers, on cutting edges of their flight envelopments. I remember seeing a prototype of the Canberra making a very tight turn far lower than a hundred feet right over the camera and the observers and no-one said anything. In other videos I saw a prototype of the Handley Page Victor landing meters away from reporters with their cameras and children playing, without any visible security guard or protection. The accident you mention was of the DeHavilland DH 110; a novel aircraft competing with Glosters for a RAF requeriment for a Night/All-Weather fighter, competition later won by the Gloster GA.5, lately known as The Javelin. The DH.110 later gave birth to the embarked naval fighter named the Sea Vixen. The accident ocurred when the second prototypem an elegantly black painted bird, experienced engine failures in early morning, forcing John Derry and Tony Richards, De Havviland's crew, to fly back to Hatfield, North of London, on the company's Dragon Rapide, to bring the only other existing DH.110, the all-silver first prototype. That plane wasn't scheduled to fly that day and De Havilland administration had to improvise. During part of earlier flights they were testing the application of a large wing fence right on mid span in both wings to avoid early airflow separation from wing upper surface. Those fences were retired lately to continue testing without them. In those later flights it wasn't thought to make hard-G manouvers. Sadly those fences (also applied to the second black prototype), conferred strenght to wing integrity as last days flights demonstrated. No-one thought in that detail. So, when John Derry pulled a very tight turn to make a second low fast subsonic pass over Farnborough after the first supersonic one, the hich-G load on the wings were too much and both outer wings broke more or less at the same moment desintegrating the plane in the air. The cockpits with Derry and Richards made a dive right in front of people and crashed just meters away from the rope that held people from flight operations terrain. Except for both pilots who died there, no-one was injured by the cockpits and nose fall. The rear fuselage, containing the inner segments of the wings, both tail booms and both vertical fins plus the stabilizator and the rear part of the fuselage fell performing a slow plain spin over a solitary portion of the field But sadly both Avon engines detached from the rear fuselage and were released like a pair of bombs that made a parabollic fall towards a small hill where large numbers of nosy people gathered to see the airshow from right outsider the airfield. One of the engines with its blades still running anf fiery hot, fell on the crowd killing twenty-nine people and injuring about sixty. Most of the people were not executives from aircraft companies or representatives of foreign governments. That hill was chosen by families to see the show and that was the tragic end of the DH.110 show. However (which is unthinkable today), Hawkers test pilot who had to fly after DeHavilland, to show the second Hawker P.1067, prototype of the Hawker Hunter, had to postpone his flight... just about an hour, to let ambulances and emergency teams to do their job. After that, show had to go on and he was cleared to take off and continue the Airshow. It is unbelievable today. Things have changed a lot and, I believe, for the better.
When you look at the catalogue of crashes in WW2, I guess there was a "gung ho! attitude that persisted for many years. Your post is probably the best description of the DH 110 crash I have ever read! Thank you! /
Living on my sailboat at Ontario Place, I saw the 1995 Nimrod crash, and later watched the salvage operation at close quarters. Thorough review. I had watched the Nimrod in previous years, one of the better displays with a spectacular wing-over by the big plane at the end. Quite a shock when it happened. Eerily, I was at that time reading a book about British military air disasters, mostly at air shows and the like, including the 1956 crash at Heathrow of the RAF's first Vulcan, which had flown over my school in New Zealand and left me with an impression for life.
I was stuck in traffic on the very same part of the Shoreham dual carriageway junction around 25 minutes before Andy Hill wiped out so many lives! Ironically also a man from the village where i grew up! I was heading to a nearby beach and arrived to see the Hawker doing its manoeuvres and witness its final dive and commented to my friends and family that it looked like he was way, way too low to pull up! Sure enough seconds later a muffled explosion could be heard followed by the inevitable huge black mushroom cloud rising into the sky proving my suspicions correct! I count myself lucky to have missed that traffic lighted junction (leading to Shoreham airport) where the Hawker hit! Andy Hill should have gone to gaol as i believe he was negligent and was shocked to learn he didn't! RIP to those that perished that day and to all others who died at Airshows! 😢😢😢
The problem for the jury was that manslaughter was an incredibly high bar to overcome in this case. For the simple fact that he claimed that his judgement was impaired and that he blacked out, there was no evidence to disprove that suggestion. An absolute tragedy for all concerned, but Andy Hill, had he been charged with a lesser offence, might have served a period in jail@@chrismoule7242
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Interesting video thanks. I have a story about air show that thankfully had no fatalities but was a spectacular incident. It was August 12 1973. At the Abbotsford international airshow. A demonstration of 4 Canadian CF -101B Voodoos based at the time at CFB Comox, B.C. 409 sqd. Nighthawks were doing their very entertaining display. The F-101B Voodoo is such an elegant aircraft. Anyways the display ends with each jet flying down the showline individually, then doing a max. after burner climb out to about 20,000 ft. Well on this day CF-101B number 101019 pulled up and climb up when at or near the top of its climb the aircraft explodes and disintegrates. Thankfully both of the crew ejected safely though I recall they did suffer burns. I was just a kid. It was a beautiful clear August day. At first I recall saying ," Wow cool." But seconds later I see the smoke and parts falling along with both parachutes. I then knew that something went wrong. The bulk of the plane's parts fell thankfully safely in a corn field near the airport. Again thankfully nobody died. I still remember it 50 years later like it happened yesterday. 🤔
