Air shows can be amazing to see. Seeing aeroplanes do amazing stunts can be a sight to behold. Such acts include: parachute drops, aerobatic displays and many other static displays. Unfortunately, however, there are instances when air shows haven't gone to plan. There are horrifying things that can result from these events.
It was reported in Chennai that a record-breaking crowd gathered at Chennai’s Marina Beach for Sunday’s air show after an unprecedented response to the event on social media. However, inadequate planning turned the event into a tragedy that left five dead and over 100 hospitalised, sources in the Tamil Nadu government and Indian Air Force (IAF) said.
Around 1 200 000 -1 300 000 people, including many from neighbouring districts, flocked to witness the IAF air show held to commemorate it's 92nd anniversary. The massive crowd overwhelmed the city’s infrastructure, leading to the tragedy, according to officials.
On Monday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. K. Stalin, promised better arrangements for future large-scale events. While top authorities said it was effective planning that prevented a potential stampede, the lack of an exit strategy and the hurried rush of people to leave the venue led to chaos, officials said.
In his statement on Monday, Stalin accepted that while "stampedes were prevented, people faced hardships in reaching their vehicles and getting public transport. Additional attention will be accorded to these issues when such events are organised next time," the CM said. He also announced Rs 500 000 compensation for families of the deceased.
The air show was the first of its kind in Chennai in over two decades and while officials had initially anticipated about 1 100 000 attendees; the event far exceeded expectations, with around 1 200 000 -1 300 000 people arriving by train; metro; buses and private vehicles. The show, held between 11:30 and 13:00, became a logistical nightmare when the entire crowd tried to leave the venue at once.
A senior police officer said that over 40 ambulances, multiple medical teams, doctors and traffic diversions were in place for the event. "There was appropriate communication between all agencies and authorities but we failed to have a perfect plan for dispersal of the crowd," the officer said.
According to a senior officer in the IAF, barricades and other crowd management initiatives as well as traffic diversions prevented a stampede but the rush of people leaving simultaneously exposed flaws in planning.
The consequences of the collective failures were devastating. Five people – all men – died while trying to return home from the beach. More than 100 people were hospitalised due to heat exhaustion, dehydration and medical issues exacerbated by the congestion.
Ambulances got stuck in the gridlock and many attendees reported being stranded in the intense heat for over an hour.
The following are some of the deadliest tradegies:
Ten fighter jets from the Italian air force that were trailing green, white and red smoke were drawing a heart in the sky over the Ramstein U.S. air force base in West Germany on 28 August 1988. The Aermacchi MB-339 drawing the "arrow" that would pierce the heart collided with two others close to the ground.
The first jet struck the runway and exploded, sending flaming wreckage into the crowd. One of the other aircraft crashed into a Black Hawk helicopter on the ground. It's pilot had managed to eject but died when he struck the ground. The third jet exploded on impact.
All three pilots were killed, as were 67 other people on the ground, including the pilot of the Black Hawk, who succumbed to his injuries weeks later in Texas army hospital. Hundreds of others were injured.
Response efforts were hampered by communication mix-ups and because German ambulances were not immediately allowed on the U.S. base.
A fighter jet crashed into an ice cream parlour shortly after take-off during the Golden West Sport Aviation Show in Sacramento, California on 24 September 1972.
The Canadair Sabre Mk. 5 failed to gain altitude, went through a chain link fence at the end of the runway and was still going about 240 km/h when it crossed the road; hit Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour and exploded.
Among the 22 killed were members of a little league football team who were celebrating inside at the time. Another 28 people were injured. The pilot suffered only a broken arm and leg and was ultimately blamed for the accident.
Twenty people, including 13 children and the pilot, were killed when a single-engine plane went into a festival crowd on 15 September 1951, near a small town on Colorado's Eastern Plains. Another 50 people were injured.
According to the Denver Post, the pilot had reportedly arrived late and missed a safety briefing that prohibited flying below 152m. Reports differ on whether he was attempting a roll or a loop when his wing clipped the ground.
The plane "cut through the crowd like a scythe," said the Post.
Since it's inception in 1964, the National Championship Air Races event has seen several deaths and crashes, the worst occurring on 16 September 2011, when a heavily modified vintage fighter went into the crowd, killing 11 people, including the 74-year-old pilot and injuring 69 others.
During the races, planes fly wing tip-to-wing tip as low as 15m from the ground, as competitors follow an oval path around pylons at speeds of up to 800 km/h.
Twenty-one pilots have been killed at the Reno races over the years (the latest was in 2014), but the 2011 disaster marked the first deaths among spectators.
An investigation blamed improper modifications to the aircraft - a P-51 Mustang, nicknamed, The Galloping Ghost, that was built during World War II.
The deadliest air-show accident in history killed 77 people and injured more than 500 when a fighter jet crashed into the crowd at Sknyliv airfield, near Lviv, Ukraine, on 27 July 2002.
A Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27 was coming out of a difficult rolling dive manoeuvre when it's left wing clipped the ground. The jet struck a number of stationary aircraft before exploding and cartwheeling into horrified spectators. Twenty-eight children were among the dead.
An investigating committee blamed the pilots - Volodimir Toponar and co-pilot, Yuri Yegorov, who suffered only minor injuries after ejecting — for trying to perform the stunt too closely to the ground.
Toponar, who had earlier blamed technical problems and a faulty flight plan for the accident, was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined $1.42 million to help pay compensation to victims. Yegorov was sentenced to 8 years in prison and ordered to pay $500 000.
The court also sentenced the commanders of the pilots' unit to 6 years in prison and the unit's head of flight security to 4 years.
Air shows can always be an excitement to look forward to. However, as the above information has shown, attending these kind of events can be deadly. It's not safe to throw caution to to the wind. Take every precaution possible for maxium safety. I haven't gone to one and I doubt I will ever attend one.