ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 46143
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| Date: | Sunday 28 August 1988 |
| Time: | 15:44 LT |
| Type: |  Aermacchi MB.339A/PAN |
| Owner/operator: | Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI) |
| Registration: | MM54474 |
| MSN: | 6669 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 69 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Ramstein Air Base (ETAR) -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Demo/Airshow/Display |
| Departure airport: | Ramstein Air Base (ETAR) |
| Ramstein Air Base (ETAR) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Ten Aermacchi MB-339 PAN jets from the Italian Air Force display team, Frecce Tricolori, were performing a display at an air show when three aircraft collided. Three pilots and 67 persons on the ground were killed.
The aircraft were performing their "pierced heart" formation. In this formation, two groups of aircraft create a heart shape in front of the audience along the runway. In the completion of the lower tip of the heart, the two groups pass each other parallel to the runway. The heart is then pierced, in the direction of the audience, by a lone aircraft.
The "piercing" aircraft (Pony 10) came in too low and too fast at the crossing point with the other two groups (five aircraft on the left and four on the right) as they completed the heart-shaped figure. Pony 10 was unable to correct his altitude or lower his speed, and collided with the leading airplane (Pony 1) of the left formation "inside" the figure, destroying the plane's tail section with the front of his aircraft. Pony 1 then spiralled out of control, hitting the plane on its lower left (Pony 2). The Pony 1 pilot ejected but was killed as he hit the runway before his parachute opened. His plane crashed onto a taxiway near the runway, destroying a UH-60 medevac helicopter and fatally injuring its pilot. Pony 2, the third plane involved in the disaster, was severely damaged from the impact with Pony 1, and crashed beside the runway, exploding in a fireball. Its pilot died on impact.
Pony 10, the aircraft that started the crash, continued on a ballistic trajectory across the runway, completely out of control and in flames, its forward section destroyed by the impact with Pony 1. The plane hit the ground ahead of the spectator stands, exploding in a fireball and destroying a police vehicle parked inside the concertina-wire fence that defined the active runway area. The plane continued, cartwheeling for a distance before picking up the three-strand concertina-wire fence, crossing an emergency access road, slamming into the crowd, and hitting a parked ice cream van.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramstein_airshow_disaster
https://www.stragi80.it/documenti/ramstein/ami_ramstein.pdf
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Nov-2008 13:32 | harro | Added |
| 16-Sep-2013 13:24 | TB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 16-Sep-2013 14:01 | TB | Updated [Other fatalities, Destination airport, Narrative] |
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