Tom_Waarne

Nightmare stuff where only experience and luck saves the day.

James_Hull

Frightening. I was at the Ramstein AB airshow in 1988 where the Italian team was performing the Pierced Heart routine and that ended disastrously. Dozens of people killed. I’m glad this one ended more favorably for all.

DaveP

The Italians had a mid air in exactly this same maneuver in W Germany, 1988.
As a result, no maneuvers are undertaken towards the crowd any more. After two incidents, maybe the Italians should give up on this maneuver.
Video is available on YouTube.

1 reply

EdwardM

I was in high school when that happened living next to a major USAF base where my father was based. I had long had nightmares of jets crashing into our neighborhood. One did on a nearby golf course after the pilot ejected and pointed it at a fairway straight down to minimize crash debris damage.

That Ramstein crash and video taken by one of the spectators with the jet careening out of control on fire right at the crowd (and him) gave me even more nightmares. I still have them on rare occasion decades later - wakes me up every time. Horrible scene.