Dayton Air Show Crash

[coasterfanatic83]

At what point do they cancel the air show for good? Is it worth it? I don't think so.

At what point do they close an amusement park because some one died riding a ride they love? The performers at these shows know the consiquenses of what they do, and they do it because they love to do it. They love to perform, they love the addrenalen rush, and they love to fly. Most of all they would not want a show cancled because of an accident. Also, the International Council of Air Shows ( http://www.airshows.aero/ ) regulates and licenses all the performers, only the best get to perform. As for this particular air show, it is one of the oldest in the nation and has one of the best safety records. In the past 40 years only two fatal accidents (3 performers and no spectators) that's a pretty good record. Air shows in general are hurting because of cut backs, no military teams are in the air or on the ground for static display. This is an industry on its own, you can't just shut it down because some one was killed or injured, for one the economic impact, and second (and most important) the people involved who dearly love what they do, and do it to teach, inspire, and to fufill dreams, not just there own but of every dreamer who dreams of flying. Yes it is worth it, and it is very important that they fly on Sunday, if not for the Dayton aviation community, then for my dear friend Charlie.

Very good points. I am not originally from the Dayton area, so I wasn't entirely aware of the show's past. I knew it had been around for a while, and that flying is a big deal in this part of Ohio. I moved here in 2005, and all I had heard about it since then is that it was declining in attendance, funding was being pulled, and of course the two crashes in 2007 and 2013. It seemed to me, because that is all I knew, that this event was in decline in nearly every aspect.

Thank you for enlightening me to all of this.

[The Interpreter]

Still more, WELL worth reading:

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130623/NATION/306230028/1361/Ohio-air-show-resumes-after-stuntwoman--pilot-die

[Monroe]

Many air shows, if not all, have been affected by the economy. A very larg number of them have been cancled this year because of the cut backs, especially the ones that relied on the military jet teams to draw people in. The F-22 could add close to six to eight thousand spectators alone at an air show like Dayton, even more at some of the other shows. The Dayton show has survived on two things, history and determination. The last big major show they had was in 2003 for the 100th annaversary of powered flight, at that show they had the Thunderbirds, Blue Angles, and the Canadian Snow Birds. The show was packed with so many static displays that people were sitting under and on them because of the lack of room. Since then the show has had to fight and even change dates just to get a major jet team, some years they even tried to go without one. To be honest though, I think this show will survive, good or bad economy, I think it will survive because of two brothers that had a dream of man being able to fly with the birds. They passed this dream on to others who passed it on. This isn't a job for the performers, it's a quest to fulfil a dream, it's a passion to teach others that a dream is only that until you do some thing about it. I know Charlie from when he was flying his extra 300 at shows, he was fun to watch and a very skilled pilot, I did not know Jane but if she was working with Charlie then she must have been the same.

[medford]

Couple of things:

The gentleman who does the PA work for the Dayton airshow (and apparently a bunch of different air shows around the country/world) was on with Brian Thomas (55krc) this morning.

Jane's fiance, was in the booth with him. Apparently he was doing the audio overlay, but also had a mic hooked up so the two could communicate directly w/o anything of their comments going over the PA system. The PA guy said as we was watching the plane come in, he could tell the plane was about 45 Degrees titled down more than it should have been; I can't imagine the thoughts running thru those 2 guys head as they recognized what was about to happen.

As far as crowd safety, he said there are a bunch of restricitions in place on US soil to keep the crowds safe; there hasn't been a fatal injury to a spectature in the US since the 50s he said. If anyone recalls the tragic event that happened at Ramestein (SP?) air force base in Italy back in the late 90s where something to the tune of 70 spectaturs were killed, the PA guy said the accident where the planes collided happened in a formation that US regulations would not allow. In fact the exact performance group was at a show in the US a month or so before the italian accident, and that maneuver was removed from their show due to the US regulations.

Obviously, there is nothing that can be done to ensure 100% safety for all spectatures in all circumstances, but the PA guy made it sound like the US regulations in place keep the general public as protected as possible.

Personally, I hope the shows carry on, I do think someone hit the nail on the head about the internet lowering interest. You can go and see these manuevers on the internet, to the point where if you attend an air show once, you've don't really need to attend again unless you an avid fan. Perhaps the same could be said of roller coaster POVs and parks. Ride once, relive the experience as many times as you want w/o the travel or costs.

[thedevariouseffect]

Ramstein AB is in Germany, not italy lol.

And yeah Italian pilots and 67 people on the ground died from that, it was crazy.