Idaho air show horror: Hundreds at an air show at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in western Idaho, the United States, watched in horror as two Navy jets entangled in the sky, struggled and then crashed into a fireball and smoke. No deaths were reported as all four occupants of the two jets managed to eject safely before the crash. Nobody was hurt at the air force base.
Kim Sykes, marketing director with Silver Wings of Idaho, said, “Everyone is safe and I think that’s the most important thing.”
The collision and subsequent crash involved two US Navy EA18-G Growlers from the Electronic Attack Squadron 129 in Whidbey Island, Washington, said Cmdr. Amelia Umayam, spokesperson for Naval Air Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Idaho air show crash – Video
According to the media reports, the two aircraft were performing an aerial demonstration when the two came in touch and got entangled with each other, resulting in a collision.
The video of the air show crash shows two aircraft appear to make contact and then spin in tandem, before falling together and explosing into a fireball upon impact.
The four crew members from both jets safely ejected and the crash was under investigation. Videos posted online by spectators showed four parachutes opening in the sky as the aircraft plummet to the ground near the base about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Boise.
The after the crash and the remainder of the air show was canceled.
Shane Ogden, who filmed the video, said, “I was just filming thinking they were going to split apart and that happened and I filmed the rest.”
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said crews don’t usually have a chance of ejecting when they get stuck together like the two aircraft at the Idaho show.
He said, “It’s really striking to see. It looks like they struck each other in a very unique fashion to cause them to remain intact and kind of stick to each other and that very well could have saved them.”
“It appears to be a pilot issue to me. It doesn’t look like it was a mechanical malfunction. Rendezvousing with another airplane in formation flight is challenging, and it has to be done just right to prevent exactly this kind of thing,” he said.
(With agency inputs)
