One Of The Most Tragic Weekends In Recent Airshow History?
There is nothing common in any of the horrific events that
transpired this weekend, but three amazing aerial performers,
dedicated to entertaining people all over the world with the
excitment and thrills inherent in aviation, lost their lives
in airshow demonstrations in three unique airshows and airshow
acts.
The most recent accident happened just a few hours ago as wing
walker Todd Green (pictured above in a Franklin Airshows pic) was
engaged in a plane to helicopter transfer and fell from a height
estimated at 200 feet. The 1330 (Local time) accident occurred at
the Selfridge Air National Guard Base during a weekend airshow at a
location some 20 miles NE of Detroit.
Green, the son of legendary wing walker, Eddie "The Grip" Green,
attempted to transfer from a biplane flown by John Mohr to 'Otto
The Helicopter' (flown by Roger Buis) when the in-flight transfer
went wrong and Green fell to the ground. Green was rushed, by
ambulance, to Mount Clemens Regional Medical Center, where hospital
spokeswoman Diane Kish states that Green died from his injuries.
Reports indicate that the transfer was conducted successfully on
Saturday but not without some problems and issues that required a
number of attempts (though some of those attempts may have been
undertaken in order to increase the dramatic tension of the
performance).
Yesterday (Saturday), the airshow industry was rocked by the
loss of a member of the RAF Red Arrows, Flt Lt Jon Egging, as well
as the death of 'Best biplane' pilot Bryan Jensen when he failed
recover from a spin at the KC Air Show.
Despite the coincidental tragedies, all falling within some
24-36 hours of each other and in the same weekend, there is no
common thread in any of these. Further and (again) despite the
coincidence of the three accidents all occurring at nearly the same
time, the industry manages to pile up a pretty solid safety
record... especially where the safety of airshow attendees is
concerned (hence the reason for ANN's extensive coverage of the
UARC Fiasco and the potential for hazard to airshow attendees if
the FAA hadn't put a stop to that foolishness).
The International Council of Airshows notes that, "In the United
States, we have now had four fatal air show accidents during the
2011 air show season. They are all tragic and, as an industry, we
will do everything in our power to learn from these accidents and
do what we can to keep them from happening again. But, in both 2009
and 2010, there were no fatal accidents at any North American air
shows. And, in 2008, there was just a single fatal accident. The
spike in accidents this year is very likely an anomaly and a
broader view of accidents during the last several years confirms
this."
ICAS adds that, "Most importantly, there has not been a
spectator fatality at a North American air show involving aircraft
since 1952. People - and especially reporters - sometimes
report on fatal accidents and don't mention this fact. It is
critical that, as an industry, we do what we can to distinguish
between the risk willingly and knowingly assumed by performers and
the spotless safety record that our industry has with
spectators."