How safe am I at the airshow?

[N35W]

Every since I was a little kid I begged my parents to take me to the airshow. No Jeff, your not the one that has to drive. It's too far.

I grew up and got my own ship and what happens?

After 10 or 15 years of begging, I finally got my Ladies to go to a airshow with me.

I drove my Mon and Sis down to El Toro Marine Corp airshow.
That was the hottest airshow I have ever seen. Heli assalt squads, napalm runs that heated your face up.

It was supposed to be a dog fight demo between a F86 and Mig of that era. The Mig Pilot got sick and could not make the performance.

The F86 pilot went up alone. It had big old wing tanks. I'm thinking to myself that looks pretty heavy. Why is he doing manuvers like that with all that weight. I can't remember the details but it seemed like he did a Split S towards the ground. I just remember clearly, he was diving toward the ground.

I used logic from flying model airplanes and arcing bodies. This does not compute. He's too low. No he knows what he's doing?

To my horror, when he was going strait down he was only about 500Ft and relized this isn't working, freaked and did a high speed stall into the ground.

What makes it worse is how he was waving to the crowd and his wife and kids before the flight.

I don't understand how he could make a mistake like that.

I thought I was being Punked.

I will never get over what I saw that day.

And you can imagine how my Mom and Sis looked at me.

I got the big evil eye!

That's messed up. what are the odds of this?

I love my planes but since then, I don't like seening people flying facing the gound. No 4 way opposing pass like the Blule Angles. When I here that on the speaker I leave the area.

So all you airshow Veterans can you give me a percentage of possible trouble?

I have always wanted to go the France airshow. But I don't want to get blown up.

[KevinJarvis]

I've only seen one incident when a stunt plane flew into the ground at the bottom of a loop.
Fortunately the pilot was not hurt at all.
Suffice to say, aerobatics can be dangerous even for the professionals.
But I would still say its highly unlikely you would ever see an accident at most of them.

[Firebird]

I have seen a few 'mishaps' before the Frecce Tricolori one year springs to mind, although that was away from the airfield, and several at Farnborough and others. The last being the Buffalo in '84.
I was nearly in one once (non-airshow), back in '78, an FGR2 we had a stuck throttle but managed to land.

The point is that now matter how safe you make things, sh*t happens. You can't stop it. Stopping airshows won't stop accidents, and avoiding going to airshows will not stop you being involved in an air incident.
The key thing is that statistically you are more likely to be involved in a car accident than an aircraft accident.

If you spend your whole life worrying about what might happen, you will never actually experience life.

[BadPvtDan]

You should see how low A-10s can get in CAS.
I think you are more likely to get in a car accident on the way to/from the show as opposed to seeing or being involved in an accident at an airshow.

We have seen shows every year for the past 10...going to Houston, San Antonio and Nellis this year.

[Steven Holzinger]

The question you asked in the thread subject line was "How safe am I at an airshow" and the answer I have is that you are VERY safe. There has never been a spectator killed at an airshow in the United States over the last 55 years or so, and most of the rules governing airshows in this country were decided upon after that last incident.

For the performers, yes, there is an inherent danger in flying any kind of aerobatics, whether they hold a 500-foot card or a surface card (the card defines the altitude their aerobatic routines cannot breach) and every performer knows this and accepts this. They also accept the fact that not only do their routines look exciting, they must also be exciting with SAFETY coming first and foremost. Ed Shipley wrote this on the ASB.TV forums a few years ago...

As far as the flying low thing, I have a surface card and I'm allowed to do it. However, it does not give you the right to be stupid. I have a responsibility to myself, my family, the crowd, and my fellow performers and promoters to be safe. Most of the things you see are really an optical illusion. Speed, curve of the ground, and obstacles, make things seem lower than they really are. But there is no doubt it is close, so I try to be as thoughtful and careful as I can. I am always making adjustments for safety of flight. Trust me, ALL I ever do when I fly air shows is think about not getting hurt or hurting others.

On the same note, all those people who say I'm nuts then hop into their cars and drive down the hi-way doing multiple 3 foot opposing passes with trucks driven by people they've never met before. I guess one man's crazy is another mans sane.

Shipley

For the spectators, it's absolutely safe. Not much more can be said right there. I feel much safer at an airshow than I do sitting here writing this reply.

[Flyin Illini]

Yea steve's right, i feel 100 times or more safer at an airshow than i do driving to the airshow.

[N35W]

Thank you much everybody for all the input.

This makes me feel alot better.

Steve, that quote from Shipley relly made a good point. I never thought of it that way.

drive down the hi-way doing multiple 3 foot opposing passes with trucks driven by people they've never met before.

He's right, that's way more dangerous. And with people not paying attention because they are texting insted of driving, Oh Man!

Thanks again Guys.