Are Air Shows Safe?

With the recent headlines about air racing, some may wonder if air shows such as the Fort Worth Alliance Air Show are safe. We sympathize with the tragic events and are saddened it occurred. However, it is important to make the distinction that air shows and air races are fundamentally different, with different objectives, and different safety regulations.

• The basic structure of air show safety procedures was established nearly 60 years ago and since that time there has not been a spectator fatality at any air show in North America.
• Air shows are highly choreographed, predictable and practiced routines which are very different from air races that are competitive, dynamic and unpredictable events.
• Air show performers are restricted from performing closer than 500 feet from the audience and heavier and faster aircraft perform as far as 1,000 or even 1,500 feet from the crowd area.
• Air show pilots are prohibited from directing the energy of their aircraft at the spectator area while performing aerobatic maneuvers.  These maneuvers typically take place while flying parallel to the crowd line.  Air races are flown with pilots flying in an oval around large pylons with energy sometimes directed towards the crowd.
• Air show performers must fly their entire aerobatic routine inside a large sterile area (the aerobatic box) that must be devoid of people beneath the performance space.
• All air show aerobatic pilots must undergo yearly evaluation for aerobatic competence.
• All of the performers at the Fort Worth Alliance Air Show will be performing routines that they have practiced and performed hundreds of times.
• The Aerobatic Racing Challenge (ARC Series) that will be performing at the 2011 Fort Worth Alliance Air Show is completely different from the air races in Reno.  The ARC pilots will perform rehearsed aerobatic maneuvers inside the aerobatic box while flying parallel to the crowd line.
• Each year, more than 300 air shows are held in communities throughout the United States with more than 12 million people attending. These air shows range from small local events with three or four thousand spectators to very large events with a half-million people or more.   In nearly 60 years there has not been a spectator fatality at any of these air shows.