Frontiers In Flight Airshow Called Off After Several Injuries

The Frontiers In Flight airshow has had a rough weekend, with Sunday’s events being canceled due to unexpected storms. The weather has left severe wind damage and several injuries in its wake.

The free airshow was hosted at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas on August 24 and 25. Saturday’s line-up brought over 65,000 visitors. However, as McConnell AFB said, extreme heat and humidity left 115 people in need of medical treatment. Seventeen individuals were then taken to a local hospital.

Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate on Sunday, either.

Meteorologists from Storm Team 12 said that “surprise storms” paid a visit around 6 am local time, and a heatburst was reported an hour later. The temperature climbed from 81 to 92 degrees within 30 minutes.

To top it off, a slow-moving wet microburst rolled in on Sunday morning. It brought wind gusts of up to 54 mph, causing McConnell AFB to cancel the event.

"Because of the damage to services, the base is unable to execute a safe airshow, and had to make the decision to cancel," said McConnell spokesperson John Van Winkle. "Safety is always our first priority at McConnell, especially when it comes to hosting the community for an airshow."

10 people suffered “minor injuries” on-site, six of which are U.S. service members. The other four were airshow vendors. One airman and one civilian male were taken to the hospital for treatment, and have since been released. The cancellation was announced just before opening time, so other spectators were not yet on the grounds. A number of aircraft were damaged, as well. 

The Blue Angels had been scheduled to appear around 3 pm Sunday. Several other performances were expected, including the F-35 Lightning demo, the A-10 formation demo, and several aerobatic routines.

McConnell representatives posted on social media apologizing for the late cancellation.

FMI: www.frontiersinflight.com, www.mcconnell.af.mil