Idaho air show horror: Jets jam in sky, fall to ground, then crash – Video shows seconds from disaster | Today’s news
Idaho air show horror: Hundreds of people at an air show at Mountain Home Air Force Base in western Idaho, United States, watched in horror as two Navy planes tangled in the sky, fought and then crashed into a ball of fire and smoke. No fatalities were reported as all four occupants of the two jets were able to eject safely before the crash. No one was injured at the air base.
Kim Sykes, director of marketing for Silver Wings of Idaho, said, “Everybody is safe and I think that’s the most important thing.”
The collisions and subsequent crashes involved two U.S. Navy EA18-G Growlers from Electronic Attack Squadron 129 at Whidbey Island, Wash., said Cmdr. Amelia Umayam, spokeswoman for Naval Air Forces, US Pacific Fleet.
Idaho Air Show Crash – Video
According to media reports, the two planes were performing an aerial display when they both touched and entangled each other, leading to a collision.
Video of the plane crash shows the two planes seemingly touching and then spinning in tandem before falling and exploding into a fireball on impact.
Four crew members from both jets ejected safely and the accident was investigated. Videos posted online by viewers showed four parachutes opening in the sky as the plane plunged to the ground near the base about 80 kilometers south of Boise.
The air force base was placed on lockdown immediately after the crash and the rest of the air show was cancelled.
Shane Ogden, who filmed the video, said: “I was just filming and I thought it was going to split and it did and I filmed the rest.”
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said crews usually don’t have a chance to eject when stuck together like the two planes at the Idaho show.
He said: “It’s really remarkable. It looks like they hit each other in a very unique way to make them stay intact and hold on to each other and that may very well have saved them.”
“It appears to me to be a pilot problem. It doesn’t appear to be a mechanical failure. Meeting another aircraft in formation is challenging and has to be done correctly to avoid exactly that kind of thing,” he said.
