Thunderbird Schedule Will Be Cut Back Pending Accident Investigation

The tragic loss of Thunderbird #4, Maj. Stephen Del Bagno, and the cancellation of their immediate airshow schedule also means that other shows will not see the excitement of the Thunderbirds for an unknown period of time while the team grieves, investigates, and rebuilds itself for the future. One of the more notable upcoming cancellations affects the annual Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In, which starts tomorrow, Tuesday, the 10th of April..

“The Sun ’n Fun family joins the whole air show community in mourning the loss of one of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds in a mishap yesterday during a training exercise at Nellis Air Force Base,” noted Sun ’n Fun President and CEO, John “Lites” Leenhouts.

“We will dedicate our 2018 show to supporting the Thunderbird family and honoring their fallen teammate.”

Maj. Del Bagno was killed when his F-16 went down over the Nevada Test and Training Range April 4, 2018 at approximately 1030 PT during a routine aerial demonstration training flight.

ANN E-I-C Note: Though the vote of support may shock you, esepcially for those who know of our hisotry with the event; we strongly support the current crew working to build up this Fly-In into something quite amazing -- they've got their hearts and their heads in the right places right now. Despite the loss of the Thunderbirds, there is plenty to see and do at the Fly-In and ANN urges aviators far and wide to join together and participate in one of the great aviation community events of the year. We’ll see you there.

FMI: https://www.flysnf.org