#8 - The 2003 Gunfighter Skies Airshow An estimated 85,000 spectators had gathered to
watch the Gunfighter Skies Airshow in Mountain Home, Idaho, on September the 15th of 2003.
During one of the event’s demonstrations, a Thunderbird F-16C piloted by Air Force Captain
Chris R. Stricklin was involved in a fiery crash. The aircraft, which was said to be
valued at $20 million, impacted somewhere between the runway and the Mountain Home Air Force Base
after Stricklin had reportedly misjudged his altitude as he entered into a Split-S maneuver.
The pilot had managed to eject himself from the plane before it crashed near the air control
tower and slid across an open field. Stricklin then parachuted to a safe location, where he was
treated by military medical personnel for the minor injuries he’d sustained. The authorities
stated that there were no other casualties in the accident. Following an investigation that was led
by Colonel Robert Beletic, it was determined that the crash had been caused by pilot error.
Stricklin, who was reportedly in his first season with the Thunderbirds display team
when the incident occurred, was subsequently reassigned to a desk job in the Pentagon. Air
Force officials publicly maintained that the Captain’s reassignment had been for reasons
unrelated to his airshow accident. #7 - The 2021 Great Pocono Raceway Airshow
The GEICO Skytypers Air Show team is a group of aerobatic pilots based in Long Island, New York,
that regularly performs at various airshows, across the United States, using a fleet of SNJ-2
World War II-era planes. They’ve become well-known for utilizing a programmable smoke system
to “skywrite” messages during their presentations. On August the 20th of 2021, the Skytypers
underwent a practice flight leading up to their performance at the Great Pocono Raceway Airshow,
held annually in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. One of the pilots, identified as 50-year-old Andy
Travnicek, reportedly lost control of his T-6 Texan aircraft shortly after taking off from the
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. Witnesses reported seeing Travnicek’s plane
initially flying in the direction of its planned route before abruptly veering to the left and
crashing into the grass below. Upon impact, the plane caught fire, and Travnicek became fatally
trapped in the flaming wreckage. Although the cause of the crash was not immediately reported,
the Skytypers coordinated with the National Transportation Safety Board
and the Federal Aviation Administration in their efforts to investigate the circumstances behind
their team member’s tragic death. Travnicek had worked as a commercial airline pilot
after serving in the US Air Force and deploying to Spain, Qatar, and Afghanistan.
#6 - The 2017 Terracina Air Show On September the 24th of 2017,
Captain Gabriele Orlandi of the Italian Air Force operated a Eurofighter jet that was participating
in an air show near the city of Terracina, just south of Rome. After
executing a loop-the-loop maneuver, Orlandi’s aircraft reportedly crashed into the ocean,
only a few hundred yards from the shore, releasing a cloud of smoke,
water, and debris up into the air. It was later reported that the 36-year-old pilot
had been killed on impact. His body was recovered by a coast guard vessel roughly 90 minutes after
the crash had occurred. Orlandi’s performance had been the air show’s penultimate display, and the
final one performed by the Italian Air Force’s aerobatic team, called the Frecce Tricolori.
Orlandi’s girlfriend, who’d been among the crowd of spectators watching the air show, was treated
at a nearby hospital after going into a state of shock that was induced by the horrifying crash.
#5 - The 2013 Eberswalde-Finow Zlin Crash On June the 29th of 2013,
the annual Roadrunner's Paradise Race 61 was held at the Finowfurt Aviation Museum in Schorfheide,
Germany. The venue of the self-described “rock and race festival” is located next to the Eberswalde
Finow Airfield. Shortly after 12 pm, a Zlin Z 526 light aircraft reportedly took off from runway 10
at the airfield as the festival was in progress. The pilot flew the plane towards the festival
site and proceeded to make several low passes. During the final attempted maneuver, however,
the aircraft reportedly lost engine power. In an evasive effort, the pilot tried to roll the plane
upright but, in doing so, he inadvertently caused the right wing’s tip tank to collide
with the ground. The plane consequently crashed upside down, fatally injuring the pilot. No one
on the ground was hurt in the accident but the aircraft did crash into the Solarpark Finow Tower,
destroying multiple solar panels. An official probe into the circumstances surrounding the
incident was subsequently initiated by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation.
The agency reportedly found that the ill-fated aerobatics display had been performed without
permission from the proper authorities, and the aircraft involved in the fatal crash didn’t
have a valid registration. Furthermore, it was discovered that the plane’s liability insurance
had expired more than a month prior to the accident. The investigation ultimately concluded
that the pilot's unsound decision to conduct aerobatics in close proximity to the ground
had been exacerbated by several control input errors he’d made during the course of the display.
#4 - The 2013 Secunda Airshow Former FAI Advanced World Champion
aerobatics pilot Glen Dell was critically injured in an accident at the Secunda Airshow, in South
Africa, on October the 12th of 2013. The veteran airman had been piloting an Extra EA-330 aircraft
during his display at the annual event. Video footage captured at the scene showed Dell’s
plane plummeting in a downward spiral before crashing into the ground. Eyewitnesses later
recounted how it took nearly 3 and a half minutes for the wrecked craft to catch fire, and another 5
minutes before fire trucks arrived on site to extinguish the flames. Dell was airlifted to
Sunninghill Hospital, in Johannesburg, where he ultimately passed away from the severe injuries
he’d sustained in the crash and the ensuing fire. The 51-year-old became the first South
African to win the World Advanced Aerobatic Championships, in 2004, and he’d also reportedly
worked as a commercial airline pilot with well over 25,000 hours of flight time.
#3 - The 2021 Bournemouth Air Festival At about 4 pm, on September the 4th of 2021,
Kirsten Pobjoy, a member of the AeroSuperBatics display team, performed a wing walking stunt at
the annual Bournemouth Air Festival in Dorset, England. As was captured on surveillance footage,
the bi-plane on which the 23-year-old was executing her daring performance
drastically decreased its altitude, without warning. The aircraft then crashed into the
sea outside The Haven Hotel in the town of Poole. Paramedics rushed to the aid of Pobjoy
and her pilot, David Barrell, both of whom were taken to a nearby hospital
with what were described as minor injuries. It emerged, in the crash’s aftermath,
that Barrell’s aircraft had experienced unanticipated technical difficulties during
Pobjoy’s performance. Officials claimed that the pilot’s “incredible skill and quick thinking”
had enabled him to guide the disabled aircraft’s descent to an area of the water that prevented
himself or the wing walker from suffering any serious injuries. The Civil Aviation Authority and
the Air Accidents Investigation Branch collaborated in an effort to determine
the cause of the plane’s malfunction. In an Instagram post, Pobjoy reaffirmed her passion for
and commitment to the craft of professional wing walking, and stated that she looked forward to her
next opportunity to perform a similar stunt as the one that had precipitated her terrifying accident.
Today's topic was requested by Arin Adams and Akanyang Canine. If you have any other
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#2 - The 2009 Overberg Air Show On November the 14th of 2009, pilot
Dave Stock manned an English Electric Lightning MK T5 aircraft during a display at the Overberg
Air Show in Western Cape, South Africa. Thousands of spectators watched as Stock’s jet performed
several maneuvers before the pilot showed signs of distress and redirected his flight path towards
a nearby holding area. Air Force fire trucks rushed to the runway in anticipation of a crash
landing. The air show’s commentator reportedly insisted that emergency personnel’s presence was
purely precautionary, and that Stock’s plane was having minor technical difficulties.
After fruitlessly attempting to eject from the malfunctioning craft a reported 3 times,
the pilot remarked in his chilling final message to the air tower, “I have ejector seat failure”.
Moments later, the Lightning fighter plane plunged to the ground and crashed in a fiery
wreck. As the crowd of spectators awaited official word on Stock’s condition, plumes of smoke could
reportedly be seen rising from the crash site. Although it was initially thought that Stock
had successfully ejected, prior to the collision, news of the pilot’s tragic demise quickly spread.
It was reported that, in 2007, Stock had co-piloted a Lightning aircraft with Sir
Richard Branson in the British business magnate’s attempts to break the fighter jet speed record.
#1 - The Sknyliv Air Show Disaster On July the 27th of 2002, an air show was
organized at Sknyliv airfield near Lviv, Ukraine, in order to commemorate the 60th anniversary of
the Ukrainian Air Force's 14th Air Corps. Shortly before 1 pm, a Sukhoi Su-27 aircraft, operated by
two experienced pilots, performed an aerobatics presentation in front of a crowd of more than
10,000 spectators. During the display, the pilots, identified as Volodymyr Toponar and Yuriy Yegorov,
executed a low altitude rolling maneuver with a downward trajectory. As they carried out the risky
aerobatic stunt, the plane’s left wing reportedly dipped abruptly before connecting with the ground
below, at which point Toponar and Yegorov ejected from the aircraft. The unfettered Su-27 then
skidded in the direction of several stationary planes and ultimately struck the nose of an
Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft. Following the collision, the Su-27 exploded and cartwheeled into
the crowd of horrified spectators. The resulting disaster claimed the lives of 77 audience members,
and injured another 543. At least a hundred of those wounded reportedly required hospitalization
for more severe afflictions, including head injuries, burns, and bone fractures.
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma publicly placed the blame for the devastating accident
on the military, and subsequently dismissed the head of the Air Force, General Viktor
Strelnykov. In June of 2005, a military court found the two pilots and three other officials
guilty of failing to follow orders, negligence, and violating flight rules. Toponar and Yegorov
were consequently sentenced to 14 and 8 years in prison, respectively. Although the pilots received
much of the blame for the tragedy, Toponar maintained that the crash had been caused by
technical difficulties with the aircraft’s flight map, which he claimed had been different
from the actual layout of the airfield. Thanks for watching! Would you rather be
strapped to the wing of a plane during an aerobatic display or have to run a
marathon in the middle of a busy highway? Let us know in the comments sections below!