Airshow Safety

Airshows usually feature a series of aerial demonstrations that take place over the runway at an airfield, or over the water by a coastal city. At airshows held in US airfields, crowds are restricted from being within 500 feet of the runway, and some aircraft cannot fly within even larger distances of the crowd.

While helicopters and slower aircraft may fly at 500 feet from the crowd, faster jets may be required to keep a 1500ft distance except during takeoffs, landings, and a few straight-line passes. Aircraft may only fly over the crowd or at less that 500ft distances if they are flying in a straight line or in a banana pass, where the aircraft starts out flying away from the crowd and turns towards the crowd, cutting the corner of the area where the crowd is allowed. (If the banana pass maneuver must be aborted or if control is lost, the energy of the aircraft will take in in a line tangent to the turn, away from spectators).

Aerobatic maneuvers may only be performed if the aircraft are not heading towards the crowd. All aerobatic maneuvers must be performed inside the airshow box, a rectangular volume of space with the runway at one edge, extending behind the runway and up to a certain altitude over this area.

No people are allowed in the airshow box except those assisting the pilot in his or her act (for examples, to hold poles the aircraft flies between, or to drive ground vehicles associated with the aerial act). This means any roads in the airshow box (such as a highway at one end of the airfield) may have to be closed during the performance, unless the box can be moved to the side of the airfield furthest from any road.

There are many other rules and restrictions on what airshow performers can do. During US airshows, helicopters cannot bank or pitch more than 90 degrees (an imaginary line going away from the helicopter perpendicular to the plane of the rotor cannot point below the horizon).

Aerobatic pilots earn certificates that initially only allow them to perform aerobatics at higher altitudes, and only with more advanced certificates can all maneuvers be performed near the ground. Formation flying, as well as flying vintage or high-performance aircraft, also requires special training.

These safety restrictions make US airshows very safe. While accidents do happen, spectators are not injured if modern safety rules are followed. Mechanical malfunctions and pilot error (most often a combination of both) are responsible for a handful of airshow accidents every year, but even then, most pilots manage to eject safely or to survive their crashes.

Germany remains the only nation to ban airshows as a result of a disaster involving an aircraft collision (Ramstein airshow disaster).

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Uses material from the article Airshow.