Professional Air Show Pilot Skip Stewart Shares His
Thoughts
It's summer, a time when
air shows abound. Did you ever experience a hint of anxiety as
those airplanes fly overhead?
Skip Stewart of Cordova, TN addressed some of those concerns in
a column in Sunday's Tennessean, in which he asserted that the air
show industry is no different from other aspects of aviation, which
all focus on safety.
Stewart is not only a FedEx DC-10 crewmember, but he is an
award-winning air show pilot, delighting crowds for the past six
year. With nearly 8000 hours flying, he is an ATP CFI, has owned
and operated an aerobatic flight school, competed in regional
aerobatic competitions, and worked as a Chief Pilot for a Fortune
100 company. He has won several Gold Medals in regional
competitions and lays claim to two Pitts Trophies.
So, yes, you could call him an expert in regard to air show
safety.
Okay, he admits that the safety for public exceeds that for the
pilot, noting in particular that US air show spectators have been
protected by rules established well before the 1988 Ramstein,
Germany, accident in which a military jet crashed into the
spectator area after being struck by another aircraft.
The FAA maintains requirements for minimum distances from the
spectator area, with three categories defined by the speed of the
aircraft; slower aircraft may get as close as 500 feet, while
faster military jets are required to be three times that distance,
said Stewart.
In addition to the distance requirement, there is a rule that
limits the aircraft's energy vector from causing a trajectory
towards spectators. Should a pilot lose control of the aircraft or
the aircraft experience a mechanical malfunction, the resulting
flight path must not allow the craft to head towards the spectator
area.
The individual responsible for monitoring all thes rules is the
"air boss," as well as others, at each air show. Because safety is
the primary concern of air bosses, if they see something that may
be a safety hazard, they immediately radio the pilot.
Not Every Pilot Can Be An Air Show Pilot
In addition to FAA rules, the regulation of the air show pilots
themselves is the responsibility of the International Council of
Air Shows (ICAS). The FAA granted ICAS the authority to regulate
how air show pilots acquire a "statement of acrobatic competency" -
the license to fly in an air show.
A string of air show pilot deaths in the late 1980s raised
questions as to how air show pilots were regulated. With the
establishment of ICAS, the money and training required to ensure
that FAA inspectors were educated about the intricacies of air show
issues was reduced, and, not surprisingly, there was an immediate
increase in air-show pilot safety as a result of the shift in
responsibility. This, asserts Stewart, is primarily due to the
industry being regulated by a peer group sensitive to the
issues.
How safe Are US Air Shows?
There has not been a single spectator death in well over 50
years, said Stewart.
"You are more likely to be injured by a baseball or hockey puck
than by an airplane at an air show. I used to say that the safest
bet was not to leave your living room, until I recently read of a
woman killed by a car when it lost control and entered her
house."
"For me," said Stewart, "there is no better pure family
entertainment than a good, old-fashioned day at the air show!"