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Comment by chaz | Hacker News Reader

Airshows can be deadly to pilots, but up until this tragedy, safe for spectators: "John Cudahy, the president of the International Council of Air Shows, said Friday that no spectators have died at any air show in the country since 1952."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-air-sho...

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There are airshows in other countries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramstein_airshow_disaster (might even count as US ground as it was a US military base).

Also Sknyliv: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sknyliv_airshow_disaster

The last 2 years I went to Osh Kosh (2006 and 2008) there were two fatalities - one when a visiting pilot crashed on his way in (a lot of people fly in and camp at the air show) and another when two reno air race plans doing a race demo collided on the way in for landing. The sad part about the later crash is that it was a father and son who collided and the son was the one who died.

The president of the International Council of Air Shows made a PR-effective statement. However, looking into the history of airshows makes them look rather dangerous. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airshow_accidents)

1952? No way, I remember one where a jet hit the runway and a fireball engulfed the crowd that occurred probably in the late 1980s.

I think after that crash aircraft were banned from flying towards or over spectators the planes had to fly parallel or away from the crowd.

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