James Gosling Report of Reno Air Crash 338
Earlier today, a tragic crash at the Reno National Championship Air Races killed at least 12 spectators, and left at least 75 injured. Reader xmas2003 writes with a link to Java creator James Gosling's first-hand account of the crash, which he describes as "better than most of what is being reported in mainstream media so far."
Re:Thought the potential of crashes was the point. (Score:3, Interesting)
You totally misunderstand airshows.
Being *live* at the field when a F-(insert any number here) flys by is no match for any theatre surround sound. It's also just beautiful to watch these things move.
Then of course there are the antique aircraft. Yes, there are some "thrills" too, like wingwalking; but nobody wants to see a wingwalker die. I bet a significant portion of the crowd would like to try wingwalking just for the sheer experience of flying like a motorpowered bird on the outside.
A pity that some people can't see anything other than bloodsport in all this. Their loss.
What happened to the setback and trajectory regs? (Score:1, Interesting)
US Airshows specifically prohibit any trajectories towards crowds and have large setback distances from the "box" that the display is allowed in, specifically for this reason. Clearly neither was being followed, or this crash wouldn't have killed and maimed so many people.
Was the race allowed to weasel out of those regs by not calling itself an airshow, even though that's exactly what it is?
http://www.proairshow.com/What%20to%20say.htm [proairshow.com]
"Since current regulations were put into effect in 1952, there has never been a spectator fatality in an North American air show accident. Thatâ(TM)s a safety record that is he envy of the entire motor sports industry."
So much for that record. The same page says:
"Second, air show performers â" both civilian and military â" are prohibited from performing maneuvers that direct the energy of their aircraft toward the area in which the spectators are sitting."
So much for that rule.
"Third, the industry and regulatory authorities strictly enforce minimum set-back distances that were developed to ensure that, in the event of an accident, pieces of the aircraft will not end up in the spectator area."
So much for that rule.
I hope the FAA employees, airshow promoters, and airport employees who approved the airshow plan are all charged criminally. Sadly, that'll never happen....